Alaska Dispatch. The Alaska Legislature endorsed Gov. Sean Parnell’s gas pipeline negotiations Sunday, approving plans to spend close to $100 million in the short term and agreeing to collect future taxes in the form of a share of the natural gas, instead of in cash.
Juneau Empire Editorial. ... As the state prepares to build the next pipeline, we should remember the lessons of the 1970s but temper them with the knowledge we’ve gained since then: Local hire is best, but local hire alone won’t build the best pipeline. This week, we watched as the Alaska Legislature passed a bill that allows non-Alaskans to serve on the board of the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation. It’s a smart move: Alaska already allows nonresidents on the boards of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, Alaska Aerospace Corporation [...]
Fairbanks News Miner by Jeff Richardson. FAIRBANKS — Rep. Don Young (This and other high resolution, NGP Photos here) took aim at a frequent target on Friday, blasting federal regulatory sprawl that he said endangered economic growth and the Alaskan way of life. Young spoke during a luncheon with the Associated General Contractors of Alaska in Fairbanks, and directed most of his fiery comments toward the growing profile of federal agencies. He said they’ve passed 13,883 new regulations in the past four years, compared to 628 new bills that made it through Congress. [...]
Comment: We have long held that the White House Memorandum and Executive Orders establishing and implementing a new "Ocean Policy" was one of the Administration's first acts of federal overreach. Comment: The "Rule of Law" subject appears when we discuss "Ocean Policy", but arises as a theme wherever federal regulatory powers are exercised--including with an Alaska mining project on state land. -dh Last week Pebble CEO Tom Collier spoke at the Alaska Miners Association conference in Fairbanks, updating attendees on the status of the Pebble project, discussing next steps, and addressing a major federal [...]
KTUU. In this year’s legislative push to approve an all-Alaska natural gas pipeline, the driving force has been state Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Joe Balash (NGP Photo). "It's kind of like a big boulder," Balash said. "Once you get it moving, you want to keep it moving." Alaska Economic Update: Interest Rates, by Katie Bender. As readers review this, consider the effect of interest rate increases on Alaska state budget debt, on the cost of debt to fund state projects and on the effect of higher interest rates on the [...]
Journal of Commerce/AP by Becky Bohrer. The House Rules Committee on April 8 advanced legislation that would allow out-of-state residents to serve on the board of directors of the Alaska Gasline Development Corp.
Northrim Bank and its President, Joseph Beedle (NGP Photo), hosted a packed house economic briefing yesterday at the Dena'ina Convention Center in Anchorage featuring Economists Mark Edwards and Bill Conerly. We'll have more for readers by Monday. -dh Opportunity For Alaskans In Canada? Petroleum News: British Columbia Premier Christy Clark, supported by a delegation of top cabinet ministers and petroleum leaders, has persuaded the Canadian government to declare that the LNG sector is a potential “nation-builder” which could create 100,000 jobs. Although the accord signed in Ottawa earlier in April is [...]
COMMENTARY: "Alaska Should Never Become Like Hostile Argentina!" In this video of yesterday's Senate Resources Committee meeting a minority senator (i.e. Hollis French {NGP Photo} of Anchorage) proposes that witnesses be required to testify under oath. This unprecedented (or at least rare) action is sure to further convince investors that Alaska is a risky place to do business. Some might say, "Well, we have the statutory right to interview witnesses under oath." Our concern with that clever response is, "Fine, then why not interview all witnesses under oath? Why just interview major investors under [...]
Our friend, Pedro van Meurs (NGP Photo) will host his special sequence of three fiscal oil and gas courses to be held in Amsterdam: June 4 – 6: The Advanced Course in Fiscal Systems for Unconventional Oil and Gas. The course deals with unconventional projects in North America and worldwide, including spreadsheet based economic analysis of a wide variety of applicable fiscal systems. June 9 – 13: The world famous regular course in World Fiscal Systems for Oil and Gas, providing a comprehensive overview of fiscal systems related to leases, licenses, [...]
Remember this announcement, 5 years ago today? ANCHORAGE, April 8, 2008 - BP [NYSE: BP] and ConocoPhillips [NYSE: COP] today announced they have combined resources to start Denali - The Alaska Gas Pipeline. The pipeline will move approximately four billion cubic feet of natural gas per day to markets, and will be the largest private sector construction project ever built in North America. The project combines the financial strength, arctic experience and technical resources of two of the most capable and experienced companies in the world. Globe & Mail. The [...]
WILD CANADA: This spectacular four-part series on the wildlife and the wild lands of Canada reveals a Canada that few have seen before. This morning, U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (NGP Photo) ... This afternoon at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, readers may watch a legislative hearing (i.e. live streaming) in Juneau before the Senate Resources Committee. One of the items heard will be "Updates From The Field", including testimony concerning Alaska's tax and investment climate by Alaska Support Industry Alliance representatives, Rebecca Logan and Doug Smith (See photos). ... commented on Rio [...]
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) today released a report demonstrating that the Department of Commerce retains the power to modernize its regulations and allow condensate exports. The report contains more than 40 pages of Commerce Department decisions from the 1970s and 1980s on expanded exports of residual fuel oil, petroleum coke, butane, specialty naphtha, and other petroleum-related products. Fairbanks News Miner by Matt Buxton. Mayors from communities along the route of a proposed natural gas pipeline still are wary about the project’s impacts despite Gov. Sean Parnell’s creation of a project [...]
Fairbanks News Miner. House Speaker Mike Chenault on Monday said he plans to propose allowing out-of-state residents to serve on the board of directors of a corporation that could play a key role in a major liquefied natural gas project in Alaska. In a memo to lawmakers, Chenault, R-Nikiski, said he will offer the amendment to SB124, a bill to extend the sunset date of the Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, during a House Rules Committee hearing Thursday. Chenault said he would have preferred to find another bill [...]
Kenai Peninsula Clarion Editorial. Last week, Gov. Sean Parnell created a municipal advisory board to weigh in on issues surrounding a natural gas pipeline project that could eventually tie communities together from Prudhoe Bay to Nikiski (i.e. See News Miner Story). While it’s laudable that the governor chose to allow several of those communities to weigh in — representatives from North Slope, Fairbanks North Star, Denali, Matanuska-Susitna, and the Kenai Peninsula Borough will be able to weigh in — we find other parts of the pipeline development process to be troubling. More.... Latest On the Enviro-Industrial-Governmental Cabal Powerline Blog, 2-27-14. [...]
Point of personal privilege. Last week I spoke of the passing of a dear friend, Dr. Milton Byrd (NGP Photo). Today I was moved by a greater fullness of his life than I had been aware, thanks to an obituary provided by his loving family. For example, I knew of only one of Milton's educational positions and accomplishments before his move to Alaska. Yet, in my defense, how would I know of every accomplishment of a truly private and serious man who seemed always engaged, not with the past, but on the next [...]
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