Legislators told GTL a no-go for ANS gas 03/11/2007
Gas-to-liquids plant on North Slope could cost $40 billion, would be several times size of any currently operating commercial plant
Alaska legislators, interested in seeing natural gas move off the North Slope, are looking for an alternative in the event a natural gas pipeline isn't built. Gas to liquids is a technology that h...

FERC legal team takes sides 03/11/2007
Shoots holes in TAPS owners' claims as tariff litigation moves toward review
A legal team at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has issued an opinion that owners of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline fighting in a Washington, D.C., court to justify the tariffs they would lik...

Legislature gets AGIA 03/11/2007
First hearing in House OandG March 13; Alaska legislators support concept
The Alaska Legislature is now in possession of Gov. Sarah Palin's Alaska Gasline Inducement Act, with the first hearings scheduled on the bill in the House Special Committee on Oil and Gas March 13. ...

TAPS switches to 21st century 03/04/2007
Change over to new pump system marks new era for Alaska oil pipeline; throughput can be varied from 200,000 to 1.1 million bpd
Feb. 9 saw a landmark event in the history of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, when pipeline operator Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. applied the on switch to the new electrical pump system at pump station...

Pipeline operator fails to find missing pig piece 02/11/2007
An aggressive cleaning device sent through the trans-Alaska oil pipeline failed to find a 20-inch diameter metal ring that went missing in the line in December, a spokesman for the operator said Feb....

Loading slowdowns cut production 1.5% 02/11/2007
Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. slowed flow rates in mid-month as Valdez Marine Terminal storage hit 6.3 million barrels
Two slowdowns on the trans-Alaska oil pipeline in January - requests by Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. to producers to reduce production - resulted in a 1.5 percent Alaska North Slope oil production dro...

ANGDA goes local 02/04/2007
Alaska Gas Market System looks at 1.25 bcf line to Southcentral, Valdez
Hung out to dry during the Murkowski administration - which focused exclusively on a project by the major Prudhoe Bay owners to take Alaska North Slope gas to the Lower 48 - the Alaska Natural Gas Dev...

MEET ALASKA 2007: Alaska roll call lookin' good 01/21/2007
Today 31 oil and gas companies have significant investments in Alaska; in 1996 that number was down to 7
Ten years ago Petroleum News published a "roll call" of oil and gas companies doing business in Alaska. In the five preceding years the number had dropped by more than one-half, from 19 active compani...

Trans-Alaska pipeline back in operation 01/14/2007
The trans-Alaska oil pipeline was back in full operation Jan. 10, one day after a loose fitting on a secondary pipe caused a leak that shut down the 800-mile pipeline for hours, with some 900,000 barr...

Higher tariffs could cost state millions 01/14/2007
Hit on state revenues from tariffs about 50% higher under new tax, but overall new tax will still bring in more revenue than old
Increased oil shipping rates on the trans-Alaska oil pipeline could cost the state roughly $102 million a year if they stand, according to an estimate by a state petroleum economist. With the rate hi...

RCA rejects TAPS rate hike 01/07/2007
Alaska oil pipeline owners seek to recoup rising costs in higher tariff
The Regulatory Commission of Alaska rejected Dec. 28 revisions to tariffs filed by owners of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline that would more than double the carrier's 2007 transportation rates for North...

Livett: BP's 100-day Prudhoe restart 12/24/2006
Five bypass lines, bypass facilities for solids handling, inspection of lines allow field to get back up after Aug. 6 partial shutdown
What did it take to get Prudhoe Bay back up and running after it was shut down in early August following discovery of extensive corrosion in oil transit lines in the eastern operating area? BP and it...

November weather drops production 12/10/2006
ANS averages 667,250 bpd, down 9.5 percent from October numbers after mid-month weather slows tanker loading in Valdez
Weather continued to plague Alaska North Slope crude oil production in November, dropping the average to just 667,250 barrels per day for the month, down 9.48 percent from an October average of 737,14...

TAPS owners win in appeal 12/10/2006
FERC allows carriers to keep confidential information used in shipping bids
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has overruled an administrative law judge decision to open confidential records listing competitively sensitive data to public scrutiny in a two-year-old inter...

Alyeska puts brakes on trans-Alaska pipeline flow as winds hold up loading 11/26/2006
The amount of oil flowing through the trans-Alaska oil pipeline has been intentionally slowed because of high winds at the marine terminal in Valdez, where oil is loaded onto tankers for shipment to W...

THE EXPLORERS 2006 - BP: Unlocking the viscous prize 11/12/2006
Marshall: If Ugnu technology issues can be solved viscous oil could take Alaska production well beyond 2050
While BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. can't be described in traditional terms as an Alaska explorer, the company invests more than $100 million a year in viscous development in Alaska, aiming to produce...

THE EXPLORERS 2006 - Talisman's FEX shooting for five wells 11/12/2006
Company continues to build NPR-A onshore, offshore acreage position; execs looking for 'big prize' in Alaska
Six companies will drill at least 13 oil exploration wells across northern Alaska in the winter drilling season of 2006-07 and FEX L.P. is one of them. FEX, which first entered Alaska in 2003 as Fort...

THE EXPLORERS 2006 - State gets $3.2 million from sales 11/12/2006
Nine bidders at Beaufort Sea, North Slope lease sales; AVCG dominates Beaufort bidding
The state's areawide Beaufort Sea and North Slope oil and gas lease sales brought in $3.2 million from eight bidders or bidding groups when bids were read Oct. 25 in Anchorage. Sales North Slope 2006...

THE EXPLORERS 2006 - The past, the present, a new day 2006-2046 11/12/2006
The history of the oil and gas industry and the State of Alaska is the story of huge risks taken, incredible challenges met, and the promise kept to provide a secure economic base for Alaska and its p...

BLM issues FONSI for ballast water treatment 11/12/2006
Bureau of Land Management says Alyeska's proposal to modify Valdez ballast water treatment facility will reduce impacts
The Bureau of Land Management said Oct. 30 that Alyeska Pipeline Service Co.'s proposal to modify the ballast water treatment facility at the Valdez Marine Terminal is expected to reduce overall envir...

Oversight office recruiting staff 11/12/2006
Alaska's newest program for monitoring oil and gas operations will start by reviewing BP's Prudhoe Bay quality assurance
The new Alaska Division of Oil and Gas office that will monitor oil and gas operations on state lands has an acting manager, contracts out for consulting work and is ready to begin recruiting staff. L...

$3.2 million from two sales 10/29/2006
Nine bidders at second 2006 Beaufort Sea, North Slope state lease sales
The state's areawide Beaufort Sea and North Slope oil and gas lease sales brought in $3.2 million from eight bidders or bidding groups when bids were read Oct. 25 in Anchorage. Sales North Slope 2006...

Boyd on gas tax 10/29/2006
Former state oil and gas director says reserves tax built on false premise
Ken Boyd, former director of the Alaska Division of Oil and Gas, told Petroleum News Oct. 17 that the gas reserves tax is "a bad idea ... built on a false premise." You hear a lot about a gas line bein...

Prudhoe gets local congressional hearing 10/22/2006
State of Alaska's delegation expresses displeasure over BP's transit pipeline maintenance at Anchorage 'listening session'
Alaska's congressional delegation had a local opportunity to express their displeasure over the March and August spills from BP's Prudhoe Bay transit lines at an Oct. 13 "listening session" in Anchora...

Alyeska investigates pipeline vibrations 10/15/2006
Sporadic vibrations at Isabel Pass in Alaska Range similar, but less frequent, to those the company studying at Atigun Pass
The sharp reduction of crude flowing through the trans-Alaska oil pipeline after a partial shutdown of the nation's largest oil field caused a steep section of the line to vibrate for weeks, the opera...