Alaska Requests Limits on US Offshore Drilling
Alaska Governor Bill Walker said on Tuesday he has asked U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to pare back a Trump administration plan for oil and gas leasing off the state's coast. While Walker supports offshore oil development, he said the Interior Department should focus on the most prospective areas off Alaska – the Beaufort and Chukchi seas in the Arctic and Cook Inlet in southern Alaska – and drop all others from the leasing plan. In asking for proposed lease sales to be dropped…
US Senators from 12 States Seek Offshore Drilling Exemptions like Florida's
Twenty-two Democratic U.S. senators from 12 states on Thursday joined the chorus of local representatives seeking exemptions from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's newly proposed offshore drilling plan, after his surprise move on Tuesday to shield Florida. Zinke surprised lawmakers, governors, and industry groups on Tuesday night by announcing that Florida would be removed from the Interior Department's proposal to open up over 90 percent of federal waters to oil and gas leasing.
Alaska Eyes Foreign Capital to Jump-start Energy Projects
Alaska is pursuing foreign investors for its oil and gas industry, hoping to advance recent discoveries while struggling to compete with lower-cost shale projects and reverse a decades-long output decline. Sovereign wealth funds, banks and state-owned energy companies have met with Alaskan officials, John Hendrix, chief energy adviser to Alaska Governor Bill Walker said in an interview. China Investment Corp (CIC) and state-owned Chinese energy company Sinopec held talks with state officials last month, he said.
BOEM : Potential Cook Inlet Lease Sale
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) today announced it plans to offer approximately 1.09 million acres in Cook Inlet off Alaska’s southcentral coast in a proposed lease sale this year. Cook Inlet Oil & Gas Lease Sale 244, scheduled to take place in June 2017, would offer 224 blocks toward the northern part of the Cook Inlet Planning Area for leasing. The blocks stretch roughly from Kalgin Island in the north to Augustine Island in the south. “Following a robust environmental analysis…
Alaska Buys TransCanada AK LNG Stake
The State of Alaska has finalized a deal with TransCanada to buy out the pipeline company's share in the proposed Alaska liquefied natural gas export project for nearly $65 million. Alaska has completed the buyout of TransCanada’s interest in the Alaska LNG project, a $65 million expense that gives Alaska the same stake in the $55 billion effort as ExxonMobil, BP and ConocoPhillips. Gov. Bill Walker hailed the move as “historic," calling the gas line project the best “get-well card” for a state facing a $3.5 billion deficit.
AK Residents Awarded $2,072 Each From Oil Fund
A majority of Alaska residents will receive $2,072 from the state's oil wealth investment fund earnings, an annual payout set against the backdrop of a $3.5 billion to $4 billion budget deficit driven by low crude prices the last year, officials said on Monday. Nearly 645,000 residents out of some 736,700 will receive the annual dividend from the Alaska Permanent Fund's earnings, Governor Bill Walker said at a news conference. This year's was the highest payout in 34 years, Walker said, though the windfall only edges the 2008 amount by $3.
Alaska: TransCanada's LNG Stake worth $70-$100 mln
Alaska LNG project could export 20 million tonnes a year; Project still requires environmental approval, FiD. Alaska could pay $70 million to $100 million for TransCanada's 25 percent stake in the midstream and upstream sectors of the proposed Alaska liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, Governor Bill Walker said on Thursday. Walker has recommended to legislators that the U.S. state should buy the stake, adding to a similar stake in a planned liquefaction plant and giving it a quarter share of the giant 20 million tonnes per annum export project.
Obama Heads to Alaska, Where Drilling Decision Looms Large
President Barack Obama on Saturday defended his decision to allow Royal Dutch Shell to drill for oil in the Arctic Ocean under what he said were rigorous standards, fending off criticism by environmental groups. His message comes on the eve of a three-day tour of Alaska aimed at drawing attention to powerful images of melting glaciers and eroding coastlines as a "wakeup call" to Americans in the Lower 48 states about the urgent need to address climate change. The trip is part of a broad campaign to seal an international deal later this year to curb carbon emissions…
Seattle Protesters Seek to Block Access to Shell Arctic Rig
A group of protesters gathered at the Port of Seattle on Tuesday seeking to block workers attempting to reach a Royal Dutch Shell drilling rig that could depart this week to resume fossil fuel exploration in the Arctic. Over the past month, activists have staged demonstrations against the oil company's plans to drill for oil in the Arctic, including on May 16 when hundreds of protesters in kayaks and small boats fanned out on a Seattle bay. Several dozen protesters…
Flooding, Ice Close AK North Slope Highway
Alaska's lone road to North Slope oilfield operations has been shut for days while emergency crews divert flood waters from an adjacent river and oil companies fly provisions to the Arctic region, state and company officials said on Thursday. The road closure, however, has not affected oil production on the North Slope. Starting on March 13, the Sagavanirktok River spilled onto a 15-mile stretch of the Dalton Highway south of Deadhorse where operations for three major oilfields are based. Crews were working to fend off highway flooding, state officials said.
