ADN by Sean Cockerham.  Former state House Majority Leader Ralph Samuels (NGP Photo) announced Tuesday he’s running for governor next year. That sets up a Republican primary fight among Samuels, Gov. Sean Parnell and Anchorage attorney Bill Walker over Alaska’s relationship with the oil industry.  Samuels was a big critic of the 2007 increase in taxes on oil companies pushed by then-Gov. Sarah Palin. Parnell supported it as Palin’s lieutenant governor and still does.  On Tuesday, Samuels described the vote to increase oil taxes as a "feeding frenzy."  "As governor I’ll work to encourage economic development. We’ll look at the current tax structures to determine whether or not there’s an opportunity to stem the recent rapid decline in oil production and oil exploration in Alaska," Samuels said, making the announcement after an Anchorage luncheon of the Resource Development Council.  *   Alaska Dispatch by Andrew Halcro.  Why Samuels Should Be Governor.

 

Calgary Herald, by Dina O’Meara.  Canada’s energy watchdog has approved a 38 per cent hike in mainline tolls for TransCanada’s natural gas system, but only on an interim basis.  The National Energy Board said in a letter to the pipeline and power company it needed more time to deliberate over TransCanada’s original Nov. 23 application to boost its mainline toll to $1.64 per gigajoule from $1.19 GJ.  TransCanada had warned industry tolls could increase to as much as $1.95 per GJ to cover a drop in natural gas volumes on its 14,101-kilometre system.  The news prompted an angry response from producers, hurting from prices that have tumbled more than 70 per cent down to $3.50 per GJ in the fall. Jacking up tolls to such a level could trigger a "death spiral" in the sector, one executive said.