7-4-12

Petroleum News by Eric Lidji (NGP Photo).  Alaska remains one of the least attractive places in North America for oil and gas investment, but its reputation compared to other hydrocarbon provinces improved slightly over the past year, according to recent survey of global petroleum industry executives.  The State of Alaska ranked 61st out of 147 jurisdictions while the federal Alaska Outer Continental Shelf ranked 52nd, according to the 2012 Global Petroleum Survey by the Fraser Institute, a right-leaning Canadian think tank. In the 2011 survey, respondents placed the State of Alaska at 83 and the Alaska OCS at 78 among 135 jurisdictions.  The annual survey gauges how decision-makers in the oil and gas sector view the business climate in countries, provinces and states around the world. The respondents measure regions on 18 factors, including taxation, regulation and political stability.  The ranking for the Alaska OCS rose because of improvements to “regulatory administration in general, and uncertainty over protected areas specifically,” according to the survey. But Alaska remained one of only four states — alongside Utah, California and New York — to get a vote of “would not pursue investment” from any respondent.  The most attractive areas for investment appear to be North America and northern Europe, with 11 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces making the top 20 alongside six regions in the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark and Ireland, according to the survey.  Oklahoma led the list, followed by Mississippi, Texas, North Dakota and Manitoba.  The five least attractive jurisdictions cover the globe, but contain familiar faces. Bolivia is at the bottom of the list, followed by Venezuela, Iran, eastern Siberia and Libya.  The rankings place Alaska in odd company.