Alaska Dispatch.  Natural gas should be flowing from Buccaneer Energy’s first Kenai Loop well in a few weeks, according to a report in the Peninsula Clarion. Production will come from an onshore site not far from WalMart, with the gas being sold to Enstar.  Buccaneer Energy, an independent oil and gas company from Australia, has focused on the Kenai Loop project since July of 2010. “This project holds significant upside for the company,” Buccaneer’s Chief Executive Officer Curtis Burton said during a Wednesday teleconference.

Alaska Dispatch by Alex DeMarban.  State officials called Alaska's much-awaited oil and gas lease sale a qualified success on Wednesday, noting that the state took in $21 million as 19 groups entered bids. Tuesday, the Committee held an oversight hearing to examine how excessive Endangered Species Act (ESA) related litigation impacts species recovery, job creation and the economy. This was the first hearing in series that will be held by the Committee to take a fair look at the ways in which the ESA is working well and areas where it could be improved and updated. "The [...]

 A survey of Alaska state senators indicates Gov. Sean Parnell's plan to cut oil production taxes faces a tough road in the upcoming legislative session.  Read more: http://www.adn.com/2011/12/02/2199922/survey-of-alaska-senators-finds.html#ixzz1fWcv5yTk ________________________________________________________________ The Honorable Barack Obama  President of the United States of America  The White House  1600 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W.  Washington, DC 20500     Dear Mr. President:    Collectively, the undersigned represent a (large) majority of Alaska’s nearly 340,000 workers. As a diverse group of elected officials, business owners, community leaders and other Alaskan residents, we all support the exploration and production of Alaska's abundant Outer [...]

CEOs count themselves lucky to pull off one game-changing play in a career. Mr. George had three – when he rescued sad-sack Suncor in the early 1990s; when he made a big bet on the oil sands in the late 1990s; and when he bought Petro-Canada in a $19-billion deal in the depths of the 2008-09 meltdown.  Read more: http://www.ctv.ca/generic/generated/static/business/article2257429.html#ixzz1fWiJOXFg

ADN/AP by Dan Joling.  Alaska Native and conservation groups are again taking aim at a federal permit needed by a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell to drill for petroleum in Arctic Ocean waters off Alaska's northern shore.  Read More: http://www.adn.com/2011/11/29/2193938/groups-challenge-another-shell.html#ixzz1fDEbKUlJ

 Bismarck News (11/27/11) reports: With millions, if not billions, of dollars hanging over the ledge, the boom in the oil patch would go into a free-fall if drilling suddenly stopped…Thousands of workers unemployed overnight, housing starts abandoned, businesses shuttered and bustling oil towns from Williston to Belfield emptying out instead of filling up are all part of a future few would prefer — even if they despair of the changes to land and lifestyle wrought by the upswing of oil…Even with oil near $100 a barrel and 200 rigs drilling in [...]