Comment to BOEMRE Before Christmas!

Here is the Anchorage Daily News Editorial!

ADN by The federal coordinator’s office for the Alaska natural gas pipeline will sponsor a public forum on gas markets Jan. 22 to help Alaskans better understand the supply-and-demand fundamentals affecting the proposed pipeline project, according to OFC spokeswoman Jennifer Thompson.  The forum is set for 1 to 3:30 p.m. at the University of Alaska Anchorage Fine Arts Building Recital Hall, Room 150. Alaska public TV will stream the forum live, with the link at www.360north.org and the Federal  Coordinator’s website, www.arcticgas.gov. Webstream viewers can send in their questions by e-mailing them to info@arcticgas.gov. The forum will be broadcast at a later date on 360 North.  Several national experts on Lower 48 supply and demand including shale gas, the effect of federal clean air regulations on natural gas demand, and foreign markets for liquefied natural gas will be at the forum.  "We want to help Alaskans understand how an Alaska North Slope natural gas pipeline could fit into the North American marketplace," said Federal Coordinator Larry Persily (NGP Photo-r with Alliance President Joe Hegna at Annual Meeting, 10-10). The forum will look at projections for 2020 and beyond, when Alaska gas could be entering the market.

Canadian Press. TransCanada Corp.’s customers will pay less to ship their natural gas from Alberta to Ontario in the new year under a new agreement announced Thursday.  The Calgary-based pipeline operator (TSX:TRP) will charge $1.23 per gigajoule to transport gas on its mainline in 2011 — less than what producers paid in 2010.

Editor’s Note:  We would urge our readers to comment to BOEMRE TODAY (see below)!  If you wish to give detailed, substantive detail, please do so.  If you merely want to register your support, you could say: "Please expedite immediate approvals for all permits and activities related to Shell Offshore Inc.’s oil and gas exploration program in the Beaufort Sea."    -dh


BOEMRE to Accept Public Comment on Oil Discharge Prevention and Contingency Plan

 
NGP heard yesterday from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement’s (BOEMRE) Alaska Region that it will accept public comments through Dec. 22, 2010, on the following materials related to Shell Offshore Inc.’s oil and gas activities in the Beaufort Sea: 
 
•           Oil Discharge Prevention and Contingency Plan (ODPCP)
 
•           Additional public information required by Notice to Lessees #2010-06, including information regarding blowout scenario and containment.
 
•           Worst Case Discharge volumes independently calculated by BOEMRE staff
 
These documents have been posted online for public review at:
 
 
Shell has applied for a permit to drill an exploratory well next summer in Sivulliq N, located 12 miles north of Flaxman Island.  Shell’s 2011 OCS Exploration Plan has been revised to include provisions to reduce discharges to the marine environment, changes that only bolster the previously approved 2010 Exploration Plan.  That plan was also reviewed and approved by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.  BOEMRE is requesting further public input on this proposed Exploration Plan.  Comments could address the importance of "Letting Shell go to work in 2011 to explore for oil — and also restore faith in the industry’s ability and will to do it right, to tap Alaska’s oil and gas treasure while abiding by the highest and environmental and safety standards on the planet.  That’s the challenge. We need the oil. We need the jobs. And we need to provide them while protecting the Arctic environment and its communities with the ability to successfully face a demanding future."
 
Comments may be mailed to:
 
Regional Supervisor, Field Operations
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement
3801 Centerpoint Dr Ste 500
Anchorage, AK  99503
 
Comments can also be submitted to the Alaska Region by email at AK_OSCP_Comments@boemre.gov or by fax at 907.334.5302.
We offer other Alaska OCS considerations, below.   -dh:
 
Alaska OCS Development will:
1)      Sustain and promote job growth during a period of high national unemployment;
2)      Reduce America’s dependence on foreign energy supplies;
3)      Create additional federal offshore revenues for state and federal governments.
 
·         According to a study by the University of Alaska’s Institute of Social and Economic Research University, new offshore energy production in the state of Alaska would produce an annual average of 35,000 jobs and total payroll of more than $72 billion over the next 50 years.
 
·         New offshore oil and gas development in Alaska would also generate thousands of new, high-paying jobs throughout the 50 states, including steel and pipe manufacturers in the Midwest, shipping on the coasts, advanced computer technology in California and Seattle, and union labor for pipeline construction and maintenance.
 
·         Not developing our offshore natural resources is projected to cost energy intensive industries nearly 13 million jobs and cumulatively decrease the nation’s real disposable income by $2.34 trillion, according to a new report issued by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.
 
·         In Alaska, approximately 43,454 jobs are supported by the industry. These jobs add $6.1 billion to Alaska’s gross state product, or 16.6 percent of its wealth. The unemployment rate is already up to 8.9 percent in Alaska.
 
·         The industry supports jobs not just in exploring, producing, refining, transporting and marketing oil and natural gas, but also through the purchases it makes of other goods and services that support the industry’s operations. Equipment suppliers, construction companies, management specialists, and food service businesses are all a strong link in the industry.
 

12-2-10 ADN Editorial:

OUR VIEW
Print Run Date: 12/2/2010
Good call
Shell gets conditional OK for Beaufort exploratory drilling
Shell Alaska’s plans to drill an exploratory well just offshore in the Beaufort Sea this summer is a go — pending another safety review by federal regulators.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said offshore Arctic exploration would proceed "with utmost caution." Close scrutiny of Shell’s plans and performance should be no damper on 2011 exploration plans.
Shell scaled back its original 2011 program, leaving disputed Chukchi Sea development to be resolved in court to focus on the Beaufort project. The more modest enterprise will give the company, regulators and North Slope leaders a chance to narrow their focus and make sure everything is done right.
While it’s still a little tentative, the Obama administration’s endorsement reflects the decision it made about Alaska development before the Deepwater Horizon disaster in April. That decision was to nix exploration near the rich salmon fishery of Bristol Bay, but to explore and develop with care in the Arctic.
That made sense then and still does.
Rear Adm. Christopher Clovis, commander of the Coast Guard in Alaska, said last month that he has confidence in Shell’s exploration plans for 2011. He said actual production — which is the goal of exploration, after all — presents more problems. But there’s time to address those.
Let Shell go to work in 2011 to explore for oil — and also restore faith in the industry’s ability and will to do it right, to tap Alaska’s oil and gas treasure while abiding by the highest and environmental and safety standards on the planet.
That’s the challenge. We need the oil. We need the jobs. And we need to provide them while protecting the Arctic environment and its communities.
BOTTOM LINE: Feds’ conditional blessing of Shell’s Beaufort exploration is good news.