The National Marine Fisheries Service is holding a public hearing in Anchorage TODAY from noon to 2 pm at the Loussac Library on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the Effects of Oil and Gas Activities in the Arctic Ocean.  Anchorage NGP readers will want to attend the  hearing and present brief testimony. The DEIS is highly problematic and the  restrictions and mitigation measures it proposes would severely compromise the economic feasibility of any drilling program and make development of leases improbable.  Below is a link to the Resource Development Council for Alaska Action Alert, which includes all the information readers will need.  http://www.akrdc.org/alerts/2012/arcticoceandeis.html

TONIGHT THE FERC IS HOLDING A GAS PIPELINE HEARING IN ANCHORAGE!

Comment:  Tim Bradner (NGP Photo) expertlyTim Bradner, Alaska Natural Gas, In-state supply, intrastate gas for Alaska, AGIA, AGDC lays out the in-state natural gas challenge in this ADN commentary, and the rational for a natural gas supply back-up plan.  It is a commentary worth bookmarking.  -dh

Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman by Andrew Wellner.  The Mat-Su Borough Assembly is calling on the state to consolidate its natural gas pipeline efforts and route the line to Point MacKenzie.

ADN by Lisa Demer.  In a state Capitol meeting room hundreds of miles from where most Alaskans live, a Senate panel is digging into one of the most complex and important issues in state government: How much to tax Big Oil.

ADN by Becky Bohrer.  A major focus of the Legislature this week will be energy as five state House Mike Chenault, Alaska House of Representatives, Speaker, ANWR, ACES, AGIA, AGDCmembers travel to Washington, D.C., to urge drilling expansions, while state senators back home discuss oil taxes.  Republican Reps. Anna Fairclough, Dan Saddler, Lance Pruitt and Mike Chenault (NGP Photo) and Democratic Rep. Reggie Joule, who caucuses with the…

Don’t forget the plethora of federal issues; we’ll help you remember!  -dh

Spearheaded by Committee Members Bill Flores and Rob Wittman, 182 Members sent a bipartisan letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar calling for new, expanded access to offshore energy production in order to create new American jobs, reduce our reliance on foreign energy and generate new revenue. 

See our comment on the January letter from environmental activists — including University of Alaska and Canadian academics — opposing OCS Activity.  

This week, the House of Representatives is expected to consider the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act (H.R. 7), which would remove barriers to American energy production to create more than a million new private-sector jobs, lower gasoline prices and strengthen our national security. Learn more about H.R. 7 here.  

…House’s Republican majority, are adding their voices to those of Alaska’s congressional delegation and governor in seeking action.  Two other Republican lawmakers, state Reps. Charisse Millett and Kyle Johansen, also recently made the trip.  Chenault, R-Nikiski, said the goal is to give members of Congress information "that will help them make a good decision based upon the wants and the concerns of Alaskans."

Petroleum News, by Wesley Loy.  Alaska Supreme Court Hears Point Thomson Case.  Alaska Dispatch story by Alex DeMarban.  

Cook Inlet is the optimal tidewater for large gasline – Right now, the Alaska Stand Alone Pipeline is proposed to deliver natural gas from the North Slope to the Point MacKenzie area.

Northern Gateway pipeline proposal draws B.C. into a quagmire of conflict – Calgary Herald

Pipelines have a long, complicated history in Alberta – Calgary Herald

Inside Climate News: Approval of Keystone XL Bill Would Open a Long Legal Mire, Experts Say – Congressional Republicans are floating a handful of measures to override President Obama’s January rejection of a permit for the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline. But it’s questionable whether any of these efforts, including a bill that could be debated in the House this week, would actually speed up approval of the Canada-to-Texas pipeline.

Wall Street Journal: Texans are Baffled by the Keystone Decision – Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper was in Beijing recently signing an agreement and touting his country’s growing energy partnership with China. It’s good news for Canada, which is rightfully looking to grow markets for its sizeable oil reserves. And it’s particularly good news for China, which needs to keep tapping into fresh supplies to feed its growing economy and mounting demand for oil.
 
Wall Street Journal: Private Equity Drills Into Oil Patch – Wall Street thinks it has tapped a new gusher. Searching for growth in a tepid economy, private-equity firms are zeroing in on the U.S. oil patch. Deal makers are excited because advances in drilling techniques such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, have made it easier to extract oil and natural gas from shale and other rock formations, creating an opening for private-equity firms to place big bets in a capital-hungry business. Some early investors already have extracted billions of dollars of profits.
 
AP: Drillers cut natural gas production as prices drop –  As natural gas prices continue to drop, the recent nationwide boom in drilling is slowing. Drillers don’t make money if prices go too low — and drilling wells isn’t cheap. “It is safe to say that there will be fewer natural gas wells drilled in 2012,” said Kathryn Klaber, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, an industry group based in Pennsylvania.
 
AP: Casinos question offshore drilling, worried about impact – Mississippi casino operators are saying they trust state leaders that exploration and drilling would be low-key for natural gas and out of sight of most of the mainland. However, the operators said in a letter to the Mississippi Development Authority, that they don’t want tourist areas overrun by industrial equipment, boats and workers.