CBC News.   ‘No one dreamed that this shale revolution, the shale gale would just blow through the continent like it has.’  –Barbara Shook  
Vancouver Sun by Gordon Hoekstra.  The Kitimat Terrace Industrial Development Society stands out as the lone business group intervener in northern B.C. offering unqualified support for Enbridge’s proposed $5.5-billion Northern Gateway pipeline.
CNN.  "The United States needs icebreakers, and this incident proves it," said Alaska’s Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell.  Treadwell said the dearth of icebreakers means the U.S. is not competitive with other Arctic nations.

 

The First Week Of 2012 Ends With Much Gas Talk
by
Dave Harbour 
 
Today’s news will be made at the Alliance’s Meet Alaska Conference; more on that by Monday.
 
(Balance of photos to be uploaded soon; as usual we invite participants to email us with additions/corrections to our reports.  -dh)
 
Yesterday’s news began at the Resource Development for Alaska breakfast featuring House Speaker Mike Chenault (NGP Photo-Above Left, video), House Resources Co-Chairman Eric Feige(NGP Photo, video) and Senator Tom Wagoner (NGP Photo, video); see Q&A period here, including your author’s question about matching state spending with oil production declines that invoked responses from Chenault, Wagoner and audience member, Senator Fred Dyson (NGP file photo, Above far Right).
  
The news day culminated with a luncheon meeting MC’d by Lynden’s Jim Jansen (NGP file photo) and featuring CEOs of Alaska’s largest oil company investors and Governor Sean Parnell (NGP file photo). 
 
*     *     *
 
The RDC Breakfast Meeting. 
 
A theme pervading the many perspectives was the concept of cooperation, or, to use the current, Alaska code words,  “Communication”, “Cooperation, “Alignment” (Readers will note the continuous repetition of these terms in various news reports linked herein.)  At the breakfast, Chenault said, he believed there would be a restructuring of the oil production tax’s progressivity feature and tax credits.  In answer to a question by Hawk Consultants’ Maynard Tapps, Chenault said it is time for the state and producers to work together and called such cooperation, ‘essential’.  Chenault emphasized his continuing support for an in-state gas line connecting North Slope reserves with the state’s population centers, complimented the AGDC team for its work and honored key legislative staff members, Tom Wright and Rena Delbridge.
 
Feige said his goal for the House Resources Committee is not to pick winners and losers but to let the market decide.  He emphasized his interest in two areas: setting conditions that can lead to secure in-state energy supplies and determining how to monetize Alaska’s vast gas reserves.  While not invoking the word, "alignment", he said that more Senate action was needed in order for the House and Senate to produce positive results for Alaskan citizens.  The big issue of the upcoming legislative session, he emphasized, is ‘taxes’.
 
Wagoner spoke of his work with Senator Lesil McGuire to provide more incentives for Cook Inlet exploration.  He said they are considering a new set of tax credits that would specifically incentivize new construction activity, referring to it as a "we give – they get" concept.  He emphasized the importance of acting to increase exploration in light of the state’s declining production that provides the lion’s share of Alaska’s general fund revenue.
 
Readers will glean from the videos a sense that all of these elected officials are well intended and know that to accomplish important goals they have to work together, communicate, cooperate and align themselves on key issues.  But one also sees that they have not yet achieved that stage of political nirvana.
 
*     *     *
 
The Producer-Governor Meeting(s). 
 
Governor, CEOs Discuss Alaska
At noon, following a two hour meeting that included the producer CEOs and Governor Sean Parnell (State Photo), invited guests joined them at the Dena’ina Convention Center.  We are told that TransCanada executive, Tony Palmer (NGP file photo-L), attended both the RDC meeting and the noon gathering, but not the morning meeting.   We did not attend the noon event but spoke with a number of those who did go and decided to offer readers the following second-hand, informal perspectives (i.e. see ‘bullets’ below) which they may find useful in supplementing the formal statements and news reports (Governor’s Office,  ADN/AP, KTUU by Rhonda McBride, Alaska Dispatch (1) and (2) by Alex DeMarban and Eric Christopher Adams, Alaska Journal of Commerce by Tim Bradner):
  •  “The press were gathered outside the Dena’ina Convention Center meeting room.  Inside was a big mix of different people, government officials, business folks, non-profit staff, etc..
  •  “When I came out I was pounced on by the press and others wanting to know my reaction, my impressions."
  • "Staff usually works ahead of time to get a memorandum of understanding or agreement ready for their bosses to sign at a ‘summit’ like this… but this fell way short of any kind of formal announcement.  Generally, a positive event."
  • "TransCanada seemed to be involved and no one declared the AGIA process to be dead."
  • "I had the feeling that the CEOs were following through with the governor’s request to meet.  Jim Mulva talked in generalities about being in Alaska over half century, commitment to the state (ConocoPhillips acquired ARCO assets and ARCO had discovered both the Prudhoe Bay oil field and the Swanson River Field on the Kenai Peninsula.  -dh)….  BP’s Bob Dudly kept repeating word, "alignment"….  The Governor said he invited parties here and indicated Alaskans wanted to see progress on a gasline and cited difficulties in getting four busy CEOs together."
  • "Jim Jansen, did a good job moderating and talked about having just returned from New Guinea where his company works with Exxon and said that Rex Tillerson’s guiding principle involves ethics, trust and alignment of interests."
  • "There was no feeling of euphoria, or relief.  There were no breakthroughs.  It was just a notable meeting."
  • "The Governor discussed the importance of a reliable supply of in-state gas, said he had a good meeting, a cordial meeting with the CEOs."
  • "Tillerson said his company was good at managing risk but needs to develop alignment and trust for big investment decisions.  He said the company and the state would have to work together.  He said Exxon is not afraid of market risk but needs tax stability."
  • "Nice things were said about the Knowles administration.  Tillerson said he appreciated past relationships with Governor Tony Knowles and had confidence in Alaska as a result of having worked with him."
  • "Governor Parnell made the point that while his office has been low key on gasline issues he has not been inactive…working behind the scenes to bring the parties together."
  • "There were some of the same legislators at the RDC morning meeting, attended the noon meeting.  Those who attended one or both meetings included Senators Dyson, Meyer, Wagoner and Giessel along with Representatives Chenault, Feige, Holmes, Millett, Gruenberg, Johnson, Hawker and Johansen as were at the noon gathering."
  • "Maybe the whole point of it was to carefully bring the subject of ‘alignment’ to the people of the state and get them used to the fact that the parties should work together to solve mutual problems rather than always being in conflict."