Shell rigs head to Alaska prior to possible federal permit –  Royal Dutch Shell is bringing oil rigs Noble Discoverer and Polar Pioneer to Alaska as it anticipates possible federal approval to resume drilling activity in the Arctic waters, a spokeswoman said last week. "Any final decision to go forward with a 2015 season will depend on successful permitting, clearing any legal obstacles and our own assessment that we are prepared to explore safely and successfully," she added. Reuters (3/27)

Barents Observer.  

Lukoil might be about to get the Kremlin’s blessing for oil drilling in Arctic waters.

The economic crisis and Western sanctions that have made Rosneft and Gazprom projects in the Arctic harder to carry out might lead to a change in Russia’s approach … Kommersant reports.

According to the newspaper, the presidential administration supports softening the strict regime of permissions to work on the shelf. An assistant to President Vladimir Putin, Andrey Belousov, is one of the main lobbyists.

Fairbanks News Miner — The Senate Resources Committee advanced legislation Friday that temporarily would restrict participation by a state-sponsored corporation in an alternate gas pipeline project proposed by Gov. Bill Walker.

The bill, which Walker has said he would veto, could get a vote on the Senate floor next week. House Speaker Mike Chenault, the bill's lead sponsor, said earlier in the day that he was fairly confident legislators would have the votes needed to override any veto. More….

“Art Hall, who runs the Center for Applied Economics at the University of Kansas School of Business, was forced last year to file a lawsuit to try to stop a state records request from student activists demanding his private email correspondence for the past 10 years. Mr. Hall’s sins? His center got a seed grant from the Fred and Mary Koch Foundation, and he testified against green energy quotas at the state legislature last year…Disclosure is becoming the left’s new weapon. And it’s shutting down debate across the country.”