News in brief

Low oil prices have prompted Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. to lay off five contract workers out of the 50 in its oil-spill response group. Alyeska said the layoffs will not affect the company’s ability to respond out of Valdez in event of an oil spill. Alyeska President Bob Malone warned, however, that more layoffs could be coming in the future if the price of oil stays low.

The Alaska Director of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management Tom Allen has announced his retirement. He plans to leave his position sometime this winter.

Division of Governmental Coordination Director Diane Mayer has resigned. Gabrielle LaRoche is acting director until a permanent replacement is named.

The number of oil and gas rigs operating nationwide dropped by three to 597 the second week in January — just one short of the all-time low recorded in 1993, Baker Hughes Inc. said Jan. 15. Energy company officials said 989 rigs were operating in the United States during the same week last year.

Of the rigs running this week, 470 were exploring for natural gas and 126 for oil. One was listed as miscellaneous. The rig count represents the number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas.

Houston-based Baker Hughes has kept track of the count since 1940. The tally peaked at 4,500 in December of 1981 during the oil boom. It dropped to a record low of 596 in the summer of 1993, exceeding the previous low of 663 in 1986.

The latest decline comes as oil companies cut back on exploration in the wake of slumping oil prices. Prices have dropped to their lowest levels in more than a decade.

Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Alaska lost three rigs, Texas lost two and California lost one. Wyoming gained two, while Louisiana and Oklahoma each gained one. New Mexico was unchanged.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. said Jan. 15 that its four-person Cook Inlet exploration staff moved into the Calais I Building on C Street in mid-December.

Gary Ford, project manager-Alaska development for Anadarko, directs the company’s Anchorage-based team. Mark Hanley, manager, public affairs-Alaska for Anadarko, also has offices in the Calais building. Anadarko has six employees at its offices in the Calais building. The address is 3201 C Street, Suite 603, Anchorage, AK 99503; phone 907 563-9519; fax 907 563-9479.

Anadarko’s exploration staff for the Cook Inlet basin had been located in offices in ARCO Alaska Inc.’s building in Anchorage since late 1996. The companies formed a strategic alliance in 1996 to explore the upper Cook Inlet and jointly hold leases on approximately 56,000 acres in the Moquawkie area and 178,000 acres in the Cook Inlet area.

In October, Anadarko and ARCO said they were preparing plans to develop a gas discovery seven miles north of Tyonek on the west side of Cook Inlet. Anadarko is the operator at the Moquawkie prospect. Anadarko said the relocation of its exploration team was in response to the company’s expanding oil and gas interests in Alaska. Two Anadarko employees will continue to work on loan to ARCO Alaska in Anchorage for certain joint venture activities.

The Associated Press contibuted to these news items