Update Given on In-State Gasline | Radio Kenai.   Dan Fauske (NGP Photo), and other members of the Alaska Stand-Alone Gas Pipeline group, showed a large amount of optimism with the progress to bring North Slope …  radiokenai.net/update-given-on-in-state-gasline/

Northern Gateway debate a tale of two provinces.  Vancouver Sun.  Whitecourt Mayor Trevor Thain said he expects Whitecourt to see $60-million within a year of the start of pipeline construction, as builders book hotel rooms, buy gas and food, and take in local entertainment. As well, Thain expects full-time jobs in 

 

National Journal: Three Ways Oil Prices Will Be Critical ***Op-ed by David Holt (NGP Photo)**
There are at least three key ways that oil prices are likely to impact the events of 2012. First, we are entering a Presidential election year in which the price of this core commodity ought to be a key issue. Related to that, of course is the health of the nation’s economy, most certain to be an election issue.
 
Get ready for the return of gasoline price wars. Spurred chiefly by Iranian threats to cut off Persian Gulf oil shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, oil and gasoline prices look to be set for a volatile run — including possible price spikes — in 2012. That would have major economic and political repercussions as the fragile U.S. economy continues to struggle to emerge from recession in this presidential-election year.
 
The average price for regular gasoline at U.S. filling stations rose 12.03 cents to $3.3596 a gallon, according to Lundberg Survey Inc. The price increase covers the three-week period ended Jan. 6 and is based on the Camarillo, California-based company’s survey of about 2,500 stations. It was the first increase in survey results since the period that ended Oct. 21. Prices are 27.84 cents higher than a year earlier, when the average was $3.0812.
 
Gas prices in the United States increased by more than a dime over the past three weeks, the first increase seen since mid-October, according to a survey published Sunday. The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline was $3.35 as of Friday, the Lundberg Survey found. That’s an increase of 12 cents from the last survey of 2011, conducted December 16.
 
Northeastern states are slated to lose half of their regional capacity for fuel production by midyear as financial woes push refineries there to idle, a trend likely to increase the region’s dependency on Gulf Coast supply. A Houston-to-New York pipeline is making major expansions to accommodate growing demand to transport gasoline and other fuels up north from the Gulf Coast to fill the potential supply void.
 
The trans-Alaska oil pipeline could have several years of life left or several decades, according to the political debate surrounding lowering production taxes on oil companies. If North Slope oil production continues to decline, some argue the line, which on average carries about 10 percent of U.S. crude oil production, could become too expensive or hazardous to operate within the decade.
 
The oil and gas sector is set to play a big political role this election year as President Obama must decide whether or not to approve the controversial Keystone Pipeline which would send tar sands crude from Alberta to Texas. Originally, The Obama administration announced said that it would delay a final decision in order to complete additional environmental studies. However Republicans in Congress are seeking to force Obama’s hand as the pipeline has become a cause for Republican presidential candidates.
 
Wall Street Journal: Canada Pipeline Hearings Near
The first of more than a year’s worth of public hearings over a proposed pipeline designed to ship crude from Canada’s landlocked oil-sands to the Pacific begins Tuesday, threatening to fan a debate in Canada over the country’s growing status as a global energy powerhouse.