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Oil Patch Insider: ASX company enters North Slope; former AOGCC comm. Babcock steps up as Dunleavy chief of staff
Kay Cashman Petroleum News
Paul Craig, veteran oil and gas investor and independent in Alaska, has closed a deal with the small, publicly traded Australian oil company Elixir Petroleum Ltd. for the South Nanushuk prospect.
Elixir, which Craig first hinted at in the July 3 edition of Petroleum News, has purchased 100 percent working interest in the 35,423-acre parcel, which lies about 20 miles south of Armstrong’s Nanushuk discovery at Horseshoe, west of the central North Slope.
Elixir renamed the prospect Project Peregrine.
Armstrong and Repsol’s Nanushuk leases at Horseshoe and north in the Pikka unit are now operated by Oil Search, another Australian company and Armstrong and Repsol’s partner.
According to a Nov. 14 statement by Elixir, the price for the parcel was US$653,859, which has been placed in escrow awaiting confirmation that the lease assignments have been approved by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Elixir has posted a US$300,000 cash backed bond with the agency.
“With the acquisition of the Alaskan leases now completed, work has begun on interpretation of all the existing data with significant progress being made on our Alaskan exploration strategy over the last two months,” said Elixir’s chief executive, Managing Director Dougal Ferguson.
- KAY CASHMAN
Babcock takes second most powerful spot in Dunleavy admin At the recent Alaska Miners convention in Anchorage, Gov-elect Mike Dunleavy announced, “Alaska is open for business.”
The pro-development Republican, who takes office Dec. 3, is well-known for his knowledge and support of mining, as well as his advocacy for resource development of all kinds, including oil and gas.
But this edition of Oil Patch Insider is devoted to a key member of his team, Tuckerman Babcock, who Dunleavy named Nov. 8 as his chief of staff, which is considered the most powerful position in any administration, second only to the governor.
Babcock, head of the Republican Party in Alaska until resigning after Dunleavy named him head of the transition team, has an oil and gas background, being a former commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, or AOGCC.
The governor-elect’s “goal” for resource investors to view Alaska as “a serious player in this country and this world” will likely be well served by Babcock’s knowledge of the petroleum industry, as will Dunleavy’s desire of ITALICS AND BOLD START not ITALICS AND BOLD END making the transition to one of the globe’s top players “a slow climb.”
A Republican-led House and Senate should make the task even easier.
Babcock appointed to AOGCC by then-Gov. Frank Murkowski Babcock was appointed as the public member of the three-person AOGCC board in 1993 by then-Gov. Frank Murkowski and served for three and a half years.
Although Babcock currently lives on the Kenai Peninsula and plans to move to Juneau, he has also lived in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough communities of Palmer and Wasilla. His time on the commission was best summed up in a recent article in the local newspaper, the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman:
“The choice of Babcock for chief of staff is raising eyebrows even among Republicans … because of Babcock’s often-combative style as the GOP’s chief political operator. However, in interviews no one has discounted Babcock’s ability in political strategy, intelligence and hard work.”
“Babcock also got high performance marks for one job in state government he held, as one of three commissioners on the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, according to people familiar with his work,” the newspaper reported.
“AOGCC’s function in regulation of oil and gas development is highly technical and Babcock is credited with working hard to understand and deal with complex industry issues. He played a key role in resolving a highly contentious issue before the commission that involved a rare dispute between the two major North Slope operators, BP and ARCO Alaska (now ConocoPhillips) over the handling of natural gas liquids in the Prudhoe Bay oilfield,” the Frontiersman reported.
Babcock also knows how to steer clear of conflict of interest positions as evidenced in a Nov. 16, 2003, article in Petroleum News in which he urged then-AOGCC member Randy Ruedrich, who was chairman of the Republican Party in Alaska at the time, to choose between the two positions and resign from one, which he himself had done in 1993 when he was appointed to the commission.
Being party chairman is all about taking partisan positions, pushing candidates into office and raising money - sometimes from oil companies, Babcock said, noting that work cannot be separated from the commissioner’s job as a quasi-judicial officer who regulates the activities of oil and gas companies.
Ruedrich resigned from the commission after meeting with Murkowski.
Other professional experience, personal life Babcock has been involved in Alaska politics since 1978, beginning with his first job as a clerk in the Division of Elections.
He has served as party precinct officer, district chairman, SCC bonus vote, state vice chairman and briefly as state chairman (2000).
He was co-chairman with U.S. Senator Frank Murkowski of Victory ’96 (Dole Presidential campaign in Alaska) and was part of the state leadership team for the Steve Forbes Presidential campaign in 1996 and 2000.
Babcock has been actively involved in campaigns for school board, assembly, state House, state Senate, U.S. Senate and governor.
He served as executive director of the governor’s reapportionment board during the 1991-92 redistricting cycle. He also served as special assistant-constituent relations and director of boards and commissions for former Gov. Walter J. Hickel. He has worked as a legislative aide in the Alaska Legislature for three representatives and two senators.
His other professional experience included working as manager of government and strategic affairs, human resources director, and assistant manager at Matanuska Electric Association (1999-2009).
Babcock earned a B.S. in government from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, in 1983.
He is married to Kristie Babcock and together they have eight children. Kristie has been a State Farm agent and for a few years starting in 2009 Tuckerman was a full-time parent.
- KAY CASHMAN
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