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Oil Patch Insider Stevens misunderstood on ANWR; Canadians roll dice in Kazakhstan
When Alaska’s senior Sen. Ted Stevens told reporters Jan. 7 that the road to getting oil drilling on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge may get rocky this session, he had no idea his comments would be interpreted as an about-face from his stance before the election.
Stevens said “the prospects for getting the Senate to approve drilling on the Arctic coastal plain are better than they’ve ever been before,” his spokeswoman Courtney Schikora Boone said Jan. 13.
A report that appeared in the Anchorage Daily News Jan. 8 cast a more cautionary slant on the senator’s comments and suggested that they contradicted remarks he made while campaigning in Alaska for the re-election of fellow Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski last fall.
“The senator was asked whether ConocoPhillips withdrawing its membership from Arctic Power was a sign that an ANWR bill’s chances of getting through Congress had diminished,” Boone said. “Sen. Stevens said ConocoPhillips withdrawal was not significant, and he pointed out that BP has not been a member of the organization for quite a while.”
Stevens told the reporters that the pro-ANWR movement did not need more lobbyists in Washington, D.C., at this time because the senators have made up their minds. What’s needed, he said, is for the delegation to put the measure in the right bill so it can be put before the Senate in the right way, Boone said.
“Daily News Reporter Rich Mauer’s interpretation that the senator’s remarks were more cautious than before was misleading, and his take on what the senator said was more inflammatory than his comments actually were,” Boone observed.
What did Stevens have to say about the Daily News report?
“It’s typical reporting of the Anchorage Daily News and he wishes he could be surprised at their reporting style,” Boone said.
Still, Stevens did reiterate earlier assessments by ANWR lobbyists that opening the coastal plain for drilling will be no shoo-in, according to the Daily News report.
He said difficult national issues, such as changes to the Social Security system and the huge federal deficit, will steal time and effort that otherwise might have been available to get an ANWR measure to the president, who has vowed to sign one.
“I can’t tell whether we’re going to be able to overcome a minority again this time,” Stevens said, referring to the ability of a minority of senators — mostly Democrats, but a few moderate Republicans — to block ANWR legislation.
“The question is how can we get it to the floor?” Stevens said. “We have so many national issues out there right at the beginning of this Congress that are going to take a lot of time. And ANWR will take some time.”
Sen. Murkowski remains encouraged by the chances this session for getting a bill through Congress that would allow exploration of the refuge’s 1.5-million-acre coastal plain, spokesman Elliott Bundy said Jan. 13.
“Of course ANWR is not a done deal just because we’ve increased the votes on our side,” Bundy said. “We have to be pragmatic about these things, but ANWR’s prospects are more optimistic now than they have been in years. I certainly think that’s what Sen. Stevens was going for in his remarks.”
Bundy said Murkowski plans to push for ANWR, heavy oil incentives and other energy measures this year that would benefit Alaska and the nation.
In its first step toward drafting new energy legislation, the U.S. Senate Energy Committee made plans the week of Jan. 10 to hold a special conference Jan. 24 to consider proposals to boost the nation’s gas supplies.
Congressional lawmakers say they want new ideas to help increase domestic drilling, ease regulatory burdens and bolster gas imports through construction of new liquefied natural gas terminals.
Murkowski, who sits on the Energy Committee, will be on the lookout for opportunities to advance Alaska’s energy agenda, including ANWR, at the special conference, Bundy said.
—Rose Ragsdale
Canada’s consul general coming to Meet Alaska Canada’s consul general for the Northwest and Alaska is coming to Anchorage Jan. 27 to address The Alliance’s Meet Alaska conference at the Sheraton.
Jeffrey N. Parker was appointed in September and recently arrived in Seattle to take over the duties there for the next four years. He’s the top Canadian diplomat for Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska. The country has consulates in Seattle and Anchorage.
Parker has an interesting background that includes his recent role as the top official of Technology Partnerships Canada, which joins government and industry investment to stimulate advanced technologies. He was there for four years. He’s also worked in the office of the prime minister, in finance positions, and for the department that deals with Native and northern issues.
—Allen Baker
Canadian E&P companies roll the dice in Kazakhstan Canadian-based E&P companies are taking their chances in more than 100 countries around the globe, but it takes special nerve to enter some theaters, not least the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan.
For riches it has harvested as Kazakhstan’s largest integrated oil producer over the last year, PetroKazakhstan has seldom been free of spats with various authorities.
It is currently entangled in dispute with Lukoil, Russia’s biggest oil producer that puts “severe constrictions” on 37,000 barrels per day of the Calgary-based company’s total output of 158,000 bpd.
That is just the latest in a series of tussles that have ranged from bizarre to threatening over recent years.
Given that history, most companies would tread carefully before embarking on any Kazakh ventures.
But the rewards apparently outweigh the risks for Nelson Resources, another Canadian company that is paying US$46.8 million for stakes in two Kazakh oilfields — 40 percent of the Karakuduk field and 50 percent of the Arman field.
Chaparral Resources, in which Nelson holds a 60 percent stake, holds the remaining 60 percent of Karakuduk, which covers 16,900 acres and has total estimated proved and probable reserves of 63 million barrels and produced 8,290 bpd in the third quarter of 2004.
The Arman field covers 8,650 acres, has remaining reserves of 10.8 million barrels and pumps 4,500 bpd.
Nelson also holds half of Kazakhoil Aktobe LP, a joint venture with Kazamunaigas, which is developing two fields and has options to acquire interests in two Caspian Sea offshore blocks.
The Toronto-based company posted revenues for the first nine months of 2004 of US$158 million, compared with US$27.3 million a year earlier, while profits rose almost five-fold to US$16.1 million.
Nelson chairman is Nick Zana, a former president of Chevron Petroleum Technology Co.
Meanwhile, PetroKaz is still bogged down in its disagreement with Lukoil, which is claiming US$100 million in damages, accusing PetroKaz of cutting off production from an oil field jointly owned by the two companies.
Lukoil claims a Kazakh court has ordered PetroKaz to resume processing oil from Turgai Petroleum, a joint venture between the two companies.
A spokesman for PetroKaz said the aggressive move was made to “to get people to listen.”
On the Toronto Stock Exchange, PetroKaz shares have been trading around C$43, or C$7 below their 52-week high.
—Gary Park
Stamps leaves Alaska; named vice president at Nabors Canada After almost 25 years in Alaska, Bill Stamps is leaving Peak Oilfield Services in Anchorage to take an executive position with Calgary-based Nabors Canada.
“Charlene and I are very excited about this new chapter in our lives and look forward to the challenges ahead. Fortunately … I am able to stay within the same family of companies that I have enjoyed for the past 17 years and look forward to continuing to work with the excellent personnel of Peak, Nabors Alaska and Precision Power in the future as life in the oil patch (and gas patch) continues to evolve on both sides of the border,” Stamps said in an email to friends.
His wife, Charlene Stamps, will be leaving her position as account executive and marketing manager, Alaska, with DHL Danzas in Anchorage.
—Kay Cashman Alaska Bear Guards: New business for Bush Fairbanks-based Renew Air’s parent corporation, has started a new company which offers professional bear and moose security personnel services and all the bear protection materials employees working the Alaska’s Bush might need.
See a news brief on this company in the Petroleum Directory (section B).
Kerr-McGee may reschedule drilling on tight GOM rig supply According to a Jan. 13 Dow Jones & Co. report Kerr-McGee may reschedule some of its drilling projects in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico due to the tightness of the rig market, an executive said Jan. 12.
“We’re talking about rescheduling,” said Frank Patterson, vice president of Gulf of Mexico exploration, during a presentation to reporters. “We recognize the oncoming tight market for rigs.”
Kerr-McGee expects to drill between 30 to 35 exploratory wells in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico in 2005. The company has four rigs, and is in the process of contracting a fifth, said Charles Meloy, Kerr-McGee’s vice president of Gulf of Mexico exploration, production and development.
The Gulf of Mexico has seen one of the largest increases in exploration activity, as producers rush to find new oil. But the difficulty of securing rigs capable of operating in deepwater are making some companies reconsider their plans, Dow Jones reported.
—Kay Cashman
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