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Oil Patch Insider Getting Arctic pipelines back on track; Eni to open Alaska office
Canada’s Prime Minister Paul Martin has intervened to break a logjam of key energy issues, with the Mackenzie and Alaska gas pipeline projects at the top of that list.
He named John McCallum to temporarily fill the energy portfolio in his cabinet, taking over from ailing John Efford, a long-time diabetes sufferer who has been sidelined for several months.
McCallum, a former Royal Bank of Canada chief economist and currently natural revenue minister, wasted no time making contact with the industry.
Within 24 hours he was in Calgary meeting with executives of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers and Alberta government representatives.
But neither he nor his office would indicate what specific actions he will take to move Arctic pipeline files back on track by tackling the conflicting claims of TransCanada and Enbridge to build the Canadian portion of an Alaska project and the aboriginal claims that are stalling the Mackenzie plans.
“I’m on a listening tour,” he told Calgary reporters.
However, McCallum was emphatic that he will oppose using energy exports to the United States as leverage in resolving a cross-border softwood lumber dispute and to obtain the return of C$5 billion in U.S.-imposed softwood duties.
He also pledged that the federal government has no intention of seizing a share of Alberta’s energy windfall.
“When Alberta does well, Canada does well because Canada shares in the tax revenue and Alberta offers a place for Canadians to work,” he said.
McCallum said he has a role to play in working with provinces and the petroleum industry to build Canada’s oil production, while also promoting the development of non-conventional energy supplies and cutting demand through conservation.
—Gary Park Eni hires Paris for Alaska operations Petroleum News sources say Eni Petroleum, new to Alaska, intends to open an Alaska office in Anchorage and has hired Chester (“Chet”) Paris, most recently with Armstrong Oil & Gas in Denver, as Eni’s representative in Anchorage. Paris will report to Eni’s Houston office which manages the company’s E&P operations in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska.
The Alaska manager would specifically report to Giuseppe Valenti, senior vice-president exploration.
Paris’ most recent work history includes a stint with Armstrong on its geoscience team which helped put together the independent’s Armstrong Alaska lease acquisitions.
Paris has also worked for ARCO in Alaska and was one of the founding partners of Petrotechnical Resources of Alaska (PRA) in 1997, leaving to work for BP, and then Armstrong.
In addition to Valenti, Eni’s Houston office management team contains the following individuals: Federico Arisi Rota, president and CEO; Adriano Mongini, senior vice-president operations; Kelly Woomer, HR manager and spokeswoman; David Dougall, HSE manager.
—Kay Cashman Kerr-McGee beefs up Alaska operation In Alaska Kerr-McGee has been operating out of an office in the ASRC building in Anchorage. The company’s employees have been overseeing Kerr-McGee’s Alaska prospects by paying periodic visits to the state, including working rotation shifts while based in Oklahoma City, Okla., Kerr-McGee headquarters.
Recently the company leased space at 1029 West Third Ave. in Anchorage and hired two employees who will be based in Anchorage — Kim Bowen, operations manager, and Roger Smith, contract coordinator.
Kerr-McGee has not confirmed this information.
—Kay Cashman Conoco: Leg up for homeless Alaskans With winter coming on, ConocoPhillips Alaska has ponied up $10,000 to help buy woodworking tools for a novel enterprise employing homeless Alaskans.
The Rural Community Action Program, active for years in Native communities and other arenas, has set up a business making wood products from materials salvaged from Anchorage-area building sites and purchased lumber.
“ReBound WoodWorks began in February 2005 as a social enterprise combining the professionalism and economic acumen of the business world with the patience and problem-solving energy of the social services community,” according to Ruralcap.
The business core is a group of homeless, chronic alcoholics who have made a commitment to the enterprise. So far, nobody has dropped out, according to Ruralcap. The workers decide the growth and direction of the operation. They take orders, make the products, and sell them to Anchorage retailers and wholesalers.
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