USGS Calls NPR-A Gas Province – Barrons Notes Governor Parnell’s Push for Oil – WSJ Describes Declining TAPS Production – Alberta Streamlines Regulatory Process

Personal:  Last night we returned from a wonderful meeting with Kentucky Colonels in the Churchill Downs Museum during the Kentucky Derby (NGP Photos above) and continued our Derby photography project for the second year running.  We were disappointed, however, to return and find little written yet about the forum Alaska gas pipeline Federal Coordinator Larry Persily (NGP Photo-L) had organized in Anchorage last night.  The program contained a cast of excellent speakers and we certainly would have been there to report on the highlights had we not been on an airplane at the time.  Here is the link to our original story; we shall add more links as others report.  -dh (Alaska Energy Dudes and Divas highlights the importance of Dr. Scott Goldsmith’s (NGP Photo) remarks illustrated by slides 15 & 16.  Listen to the audio here.)

Senate Energy.  Yesterday, at a Senate Energy panel hearing Senator Lisa Murkowski (NGP Photo) said, "Advances in how we find and develop our vast natural resources have made production in Alaska and elsewhere both safer and more economical," while Alaska’s Oil and Gas Division Director Kevin Banks (NGP Photo-R) stressed Alaska’s untapped potential and Arctic drilling advances.  (See APRN report.)

PNA via ADN by Alan Bailey.  In October the U.S. Geological Survey published a new assessment of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska in which the agency slashed its estimate of technically recoverable, undiscovered oil in the reserve from 10.5 billion to 896 million barrels.

Please vote on WSJ site for: ‘More or Less Drilling"

WSJ by Russell Gold.  When the famed Trans Alaska Pipeline carried two million barrels of oil a day, the naturally warm crude surged 800 miles to the Port of Valdez in three days and arrived at a temperature of about 100 degrees.  Now, dwindling oil production along Alaska’s northern edge means the pipeline carries less than one-third the volume it once did—and the crude takes five times as long to get to its destination.  That leisurely flow means the oil is above ground longer and more exposed to Alaska’s frigid weather; the crude sometimes arrives chilled to 40 degrees. As the flow and temperature continue to drop, experts say the risks of a clog or corrosion increase, as do the odds of ruptures and spills.Unless a technological solution can be found, the arcane physics of crude flow may force the multibillion dollar, 48-inch-wide steel pipeline to shut down—and determine the fate of the largest oil field ever found in the U.S.  There’s one other, seemingly simple fix: Add more oil.  "If I could ask for one thing, it is to figure out how to get more oil into this pipe," says Tom Barrett (NGP Photo), president of the pipeline’s owner, Alyeska Pipeline Service Co.  But production from Alaska’s giant oil fields has been falling for years. Turning that around would require drilling in new areas, some of them environmentally sensitive and most controlled by the federal government.

National Journal.  SARAH PALIN (NGP Photo) HAS GAINED a reputation for being erratic, undisciplined, not up to the job. But that wasn’t how she looked as governor. She began by confronting the two biggest issues in Alaska—the gas pipeline and the oil tax—and drove the policy process on both of them.

Barron’s.  On May 1 Petroleum News Alaska reported the proposed Donkel Oil and Gas (DOG) Unit has 21,354 acres to develop containing the Arco Stinson Number 1 discovery well and if approved by the State of Alaska Donkel tells World Energy "more oil and gas could be flowing from this very large oil and gas discovery in the very near future." Also Exxon is planning to bring its giant oil and gas Point Thompson discovery on line, which is right next to the DOG Unit and the Stinson discovery well.

Calgary Herald by Darcy Henton.  A proposed new regulatory framework to streamline energy resource project applications will benefit landowners and oil and gas companies alike, Alberta’s premier said Tuesday.  "It’s a regulatory process that will provide predictability, a clear and transparent process, improve the efficiency and ensure that none of the standards are diminished," Ed Stelmach told reporters. "It’s very important that we do present approvals in a more transparent way, but also expedite them."