Petroleum News by Wesley Loy. BP is backing off its ambitious Liberty development on Alaska’s North Slope. “After a full review of project engineering and economics, BP has decided not to pursue the proposed Liberty project, in its current form,” Dawn Patience, spokeswoman for BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., told Petroleum News. “BP is in the process of working with regulators to discuss the potential forward plans for the project.”
OCS Maps OCS: A Difference of Opinion (Commentary). Yesterday, the Department of Interior boasted of its "...Plan to Make All Highest-Resource Areas in the US Offshore Available for Oil and Gas Leasing." However, in the Obama Administration's unique, passive-aggressive way, it smiles and offers development while withdrawing many of the best areas for development. Is this another sleight of hand designed to "fool most of the people all the time", or "all of the people some of the time?" After reading the side-by-side notes below, our readers can draw their [...]
Globe and Mail by Josh Wingrove. With high energy royalties and soaring land lease sales, Alberta inched closer to a balanced budget last year.The province’s fourth-quarter report for the 2011-2012 fiscal year, released Thursday, shows a total deficit of just $23-million on its $39-billion budget. It had been forecasting a $3.4-billion deficit. The changes come as welcome news to Alison Redford’s government, which has been under fire from the official opposition Wildrose Party for not managing to balance the books even as the province is awash in energy wealth. “We [...]
Calgary Herald by Steve Ewart. David Collyer, president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, met the Herald's editorial board Monday and was called upon to defend "the industry" after three oil leaks in a month in Alberta raised public concern over the safety of aging pipeline infrastructure. ADN by Lisa Demer. With little drama, the Kulluk -- a 29-year-old conical Arctic drilling rig that spent a dozen years mothballed in Canada -- launched for Dutch Harbor, a supply stop on the way to the far north, just before 8 [...]
PNA by Kristen Nelson. Aging oil and gas fields in Southcentral Alaska’s Cook Inlet basin may no longer be attractive to major companies, but for a mid-sized Houston independent, Hilcorp Energy, finding ways to produce more oil from big old fields is a way of life. ADN/PNA by Wesley Loy. Executives with Cook Inlet Energy LLC are looking to lay a subsea pipeline across the Inlet to carry west-side crude oil to Tesoro's Kenai Peninsula refinery. Today's CEA Energy Links: Associated Press: Officials: North Dakota energy policy is model for [...]
PNA by Shane Lasley. When Steve Borell (NGP Photo-R) announced that he was retiring as the executive director of the Alaska Miners Association — a post he held for 22 years — the group’s board of directors was charged with the daunting task of filling the void left by the association’s highly regarded and beloved leader. Unbeknownst to the board members, or Borell himself, the outgoing executive director had been grooming his replacement, Deantha Crockett (NGP Photo), for nearly a decade. ... the board found Crockett, a lifelong Alaskan with a [...]
The Alaska Gasline Development Corporation, this week, announced the formation of a Community Advisory Council to promote communication and collaboration along the in-state pipeline route. The Alaska Gasline Development Corporation is tasked with developing the in-state natural gas pipeline known as the ASAP project (Alaska Stand Alone Pipeline). ASAP Community Advisory Council Co-chairs Tim Navarre of Kenai and Mayor Jason Mayrand of Nenana are pleased with the progress being made on the structure of the council. ASAP Community Advisory Council has held two meetings and the Co-chairs advise they [...]
Calgary Herald/CP. Encana Corp. (TSX:ECA) will invest an additional $600 million this year to significantly increase production of valuable liquids-rich natural gas amid a prolonged downturn in the price of so-called dry gas. Today, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (NGP Photo) delivered the following statement on the House floor, in support of H.R. 2578, The Conservation and Economic Growth Act – a package of 14 public lands bills that will cut federal red tape, boost economic development, protect the environment, and create American jobs. Commentary: Yesterday at [...]
America Must Tap Into Alaska's Arctic Oil by Mead Treadwell, Alaska Lieutenant Governor (OP-Ed, Politico) "... people who pay attention to science and experience are confident of this: The Beaufort and Chukchi seas can be safely explored. Every Arctic Ocean coastal state, six including Iceland, has come to the same conclusion. The oil industry has already invested hundreds of millions of dollars in emergency planning. Myriad measures recommended by the National Oil Spill Commission are being put in place, including state-of-the-art capping stacks, 24-hour icebreaker support and a [...]
Comment: We are pleased to note that our friend, Tony Clark (NGP Photo-R), an eminently fair and balanced regulator from North Dakota, was sworn in Friday to his new seat on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Another friend, his fellow commissioner, Phil Moeller (NGP Photo), obtained much of his regulatory background in Washington State and worked in Alaska during his earlier days. -dh
Before reviewing the excellent, Brad Keithley analysis below, please look at our earlier comment on 'Intergenerational Inequity" and the link to our Alaska Business Monthly Op-Ed on the same subject. -dh "Alaska faces a comparable and equally dire fiscal crisis to that which has developed at the federal level. Due to current excessive state government spending, future Alaskans – which will include many of the current generation as they enter retirement – are facing a lower standard of living than present day Alaskans. As a consequence, Alaska needs its own [...]
North Dakota and Fairbanks readers follow our Governor's travels and speeches! U.S. begins review of TransCanada's new Keystone pipeline route - Calgary Herald - Main callout pointer for calgaryherald.com .... generate a large volume of greenhouse gases and say a change of the route will not lessen the pipeline's dangers. Calgary Herald - One of three companies planning a $4.5-billion liquefied natural gas terminal at Kitimat on Thursday.... Main callout pointer for calgaryherald.com .... Shell Canada details B.C. liquefied natural gas project · Widening of gas pipeline to Kitimat ... See all stories on this topic »
Widening of gas pipeline to Kitimat wins approval - Calgary Herald - Proponents of what could be Canada's first liquefied natural gas export terminal have won an application. - www.calgaryherald.com/business/energy.../story.html Today's Consumer Energy Alliance Links: Tampa Bay Online: From fracking, natural gas to keep Florida moving **Op-ed by Kevin Doyle For Florida industries that rely on natural gas as a feedstock, the decline in price has been a welcome reprieve, helping agricultural producers and manufacturers and breathing new life into our state's fertilizer industry. For the benefits to these important industries alone, Floridians should be hailing the new energy renaissance. [...]
Energy Biz. Sen. Jim Inhofe urged his colleagues on Tuesday to support his effort to kill a new air pollution rule, while an Arkansas senator called Inhofe's proposal "over the top" and said it would allow utility companies to pollute at will. Inhofe, R-Tulsa, has been trying to round up support to block the implementation of a rule that would limit the emissions of mercury and toxic chemicals from power plants. In a speech on the Senate floor, Inhofe said the rule is part of President Barack Obama's "war on [...]
On Killing Golden Egg Laying Geese Published: June 13, 2012: ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY Can Well Intended Regulation and Lawmaking Kill Golden Egg Laying Geese? Meeting Report and Commentary by Dave Harbour Report: Oregon Congressman Greg Walden(NGP Photo) told members of the Western Conference of Public Service Commissioners(WCPSC), meeting yesterday at Sunriver Resort, that the House is, "...committed to not having everything pile up like a train wreck at the end of the year." Walden is chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology. His committee's Senior [...]
