Walker names Hendrix O&G advisor

Alaska Gov. Bill Walker said July 18 that he has named John Hendrix, formerly with Apache Alaska, as his chief oil and gas advisor, a newly created cabinet-level position.

“As Alaska navigates this new reality of low oil prices and production, the industry itself is grappling with ways to innovate amidst this economic downturn,” Walker said in a statement. “I am pleased that John Hendrix will join my team to help steer the conversation between the state and the industry so the relationship is mutually beneficial. Given John’s nearly four decades of oil and gas experience, his insight is much needed and respected.”

In remarks at the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce the same day, Walker cited problems with the state’s oil and gas tax credit program, calling it flawed. “It was never intended that when we were underwater financially that we’d be borrowing money to pay the tax credits.” But, the governor said, the state has an obligation to pay the credits and wants to get them paid, even if it’s a bit challenging right now.

Walker said the administration is working with companies on a weekly basis, and said “that is one of the things that John Hendrix is going to be doing.”

Hendrix graduated from Homer High School and has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Tennessee. He began his oilfield career with Schlumberger Oilfield Services on the North Slope in 1980. He later joined BP and was with that company for 18 years, holding engineering and managerial positions on the North Slope and in Anchorage, as well as in Russia and the United Kingdom.

Hendrix joined Apache Corp. in 2005 as a production engineering manager for the Gulf Coast and prior to moving back to Alaska in 2011, served as general manager of Apache’s Qarun Petroleum Co. joint venture in Egypt.

He was appointed general manager of Apache’s Alaska operations in 2011. Apache acquired existing leases in Cook Inlet in 2010 and acquired extensive additional acreage in state oil and gas lease sales. The company suspended Alaska operations in early 2016 and said it would allow its leases to expire.

- KRISTEN NELSON