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ConocoPhillips loses bid to limit competitor’s access to Alaska’s next big oil project
Oil company Santos scored a victory last week over competitor ConocoPhillips in a long-running dispute over roads needed to access Alaska’s next big petroleum development. For the past year, the companies have feuded over the rights of Australia-based Santos to cross roads that connect its new Pikka project to the North Slope oil hub of […]
‘Stalemate’: Prepare to wait weeks, or even months, before a majority forms in Alaska House
After last month’s elections, the Alaska Capitol, so far, is split between two different political ideologies. Voters re-elected Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy, and a centrist, bipartisan coalition is set to take control of the state Senate. A longtime principle at the Alaska Capitol holds that of the building’s three power centers — the House, Senate […]
Biden administration delays release of new Arctic Refuge drilling environmental review
The Biden administration has delayed by several months the release of a new environmental review of oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The review, known as a “draft supplemental environmental impact statement,” was originally set for release by the end of November. All oil development work in the refuge is effectively stalled until […]
Under attack on many fronts, AIDEA now faces a leadership void
The last time I saw Alan Weitzner, the head of the state agency responsible for some of the most polarizing infrastructure projects in Alaska, he and his spokeswoman were staffing a booth at a mining conference in Anchorage. No one had stopped by to chat; when I walked up and introduced myself as a reporter […]
Alaska Native corporations take argument over carbon credits revenue to court
A new lawsuit threatens to upend a landmark, four-decade-old revenue sharing pact that’s guided the distribution of more than $2 billion among Alaska’s Native corporations. The litigation stems from the 121-page, 1982 settlement agreement that has long defused financial disputes between the 12 regional Native corporations: The deal successfully outlined how the companies should share […]
Could oil-rich Alaska be forced to import natural gas? Two utilities are looking into it.
Amid warnings of diminishing natural gas supplies, utilities in Alaska, one of America’s biggest fossil fuel producers, are exploring imports of liquefied natural gas from outside the state to meet demand as contracts expire over the next decade. Two of Anchorage’s largest utilities have hired consultants to study bringing in liquefied natural gas, or LNG, […]
Bureau of Land Management schedules Ambler road decision for late 2023
The federal Bureau of Land Management said in a court filing Tuesday that it will issue its final decision on Alaska Industrial and Economic Development Authority’s proposed Ambler road project in the fourth quarter of 2023. The Trump administration had previously approved the controversial, 200-mile road, which would run through Gates of the Arctic National […]
The view, from Asia, of Alaska’s natural gas pipeline
I spent 10 days in Japan last month. I was mostly on vacation — great hot springs, the trains run on time and astonishingly fast — but I also met with a few people in Japan’s energy industry. That’s because the nation is the world’s largest liquefied natural gas importer and, importantly, likely the biggest […]