PNA via ADN by Eric Lidji.  Linc Energy has started drilling its first Alaska natural gas exploration well, the company said.  The Australian company recently spudded LEA No. 1 in Mat-Su just north of Point MacKenzie Road across Knik Arm from rage.In an Oct. 24 statement, Linc CEO Peter Bond said the well was designed "to target a number of stacked gas objectives whilst intersecting regional coal measures."  

 MEETING OF THE ANCHORAGE ENERGY TASKFORCE (NGP Photo: Mayor Dan Sullivan) Nov. 3, 2010 9:00-11:00 a.m. Mayor’s 8th floor conference room     I.              Call to Order/Introductions   II.            Review of Agenda   III.           Presentation a.     Local utilities update about winter preparedness (continued from last meeting)                                           i.    ENSTAR – John Sims,  Manager, Corporate Communications & Customer Service(confirmed) b.    CIRI, Fire Island wind project – Ethan Schutt, Sr. Vice President, Land and Energy Development (confirmed) c.    David Gottstein, North Slope gas proposal (confirmed)   IV.          Old Business a.    Updating transition [...]

ADN/AP by Dan Joling (NGP Photo).  Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell has had 16 months on the job as a replacement for Sarah Palin and the Republican is seeking a full four-year term. Democratic Ethan Berkowitz hopes Alaskans want a change.Parnell continues to embrace Palin's plan for a proposed pipeline to move North Slope natural gas to market. The law awarded an exclusive state license to build the pipeline and $500 million in state incentives to get the $30 billion project moving. Parnell claims that both the state licensee, TransCanada Corp., [...]

 California's Green Politics Creates Its Own Brands of Greed and Corruption by Ben Harbour, A California Voter   While I was in line to cast an early ballot in Fresno on Saturday, the very eager voters were informed that the written description of Prop 23 on the ballot, was wrong.  Our eagerness waining, we were informed that the new language could be read on a poster which hung on the wall near the voting maching, and our vote on the machine would still count. (Click below for more.) Although I [...]

The ADN asked candidates, "Are you satisfied with the level of federal environmental regulation and oversight of offshore oil and gas drilling and shipping to prevent a major spill in Alaska? If not, what do you want to see changed?  We think there should have been more outrage expressed by aspiring leaders that Federal bureaucrats are clearly doing everything possible to shut down Alaskan oil and gas activity -- both on- and off-shore.  See the economic impact of new OCS activity in Alaska in this study conducted by Northern Economics [...]

Platts.  Natural gas pipeline companies have spent $2.3 million on US political campaigns ahead of Tuesday's federal elections, a modest $100,000 increase from the 2006 mid-terms, even as Congress considers tightening pipeline safety oversight and curbing carbon emissions. The industry gave $1.3 million, or about 57% of the total, to Republican candidates and $934,000, or 41% of the total, to Democrats, according to the latest filings tracked by the Center for Responsive Politics. The sector has favored Republicans in every election cycle since 1994.  (Comment.  The entire energy sector should [...]

ADN by Elizabeth Bluemink.  Recent drilling results indicate that the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska contains roughly a tenth of the oil that federal scientists had previously estimated, the U.S. Geological Survey announced Tuesday.  Read  more: http://www.adn.com/2010/10/26/1519692/report-slashes-estimate-of-amount.html#ixzz13ZWUADTH  (Comment: Since we have lost trust in the integrity and competence of the Barak Obama Administration, we cannot eliminate the possiblity that such USGS conclusions are political statements designed as pretext to further restrict access to the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.  -dh) News Miner, Governor Sean Parnell (NGP Photo) Q&A.  Should the state continue funding a study of in-state [...]

Personal note: ...just returned to my gentle readers after a weekend in Walla Walla for a Whitman College "Parents Weekend"  -dh Fairbanks News Miner. Q&A by John Brown.  We can own and build a large diameter gas line to tide water that allows us to retain all options associated with our natural gas. We need to start on both projects tomorrow.  (It always amazes me how easily politicians can say "We" when they are referring to someone else's money.  See our earlier editorial.    -dh)

OneNewsNow.  “The Obama administration may have lifted the moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, but it may not do enough to retain jobs and keep prices down. Several nations are stepping up efforts to become self-sufficient when it comes to oil and gasoline, including Cuba. Dan Kish, an energy policy expert with the Institute for Energy Research (IER), explains what is now at stake. "It's not just Cuba -- it's Brazil, it's the United Kingdom, it's Norway, it's Venezuela, it's Africa," he exclaims. "Every place in the world except [...]

  BOEM Skeptic I Am - Comment I Will  -Yoda (NGP Photo) Commentary and Call To Action by Dave Harbour Yesterday BOEM (Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, etc.) provided us with an advance copy of a flyer (i.e. subject to change) announcing yet another set of public hearings scheduled for Alaska in November: 11-1, Kotzebue; 11-2, Point Hope; 11-3, Point Lay; 11-4, Wainwright; 11-5, Barrow; 11-9, Anchorage. These hearings are for the purpose of getting input on a draft supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) relating to Chukchi Sea Sale 193. [...]