Yesterday, ConocoPhillips Alaska announced plans to resume Alaska drilling projects on the North Slope starting in mid-December, bringing back several hundred jobs amid reductions that began during the drop in oil prices this spring coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic. ConocoPhillips Alaska President Joe Marushack cited the defeat of Ballot Measure 1, a citizen-led oil tax increase, as the primary factor for the resumption of the drilling plans. According to Anchorage Daily News: It [ConocoPhillips] temporarily cut North Slope production in June, citing low oil prices. It reported losing $1.5 billion worldwide through June this year, including $60 million in Alaska. The Alaska oil and…

On last night’s Power The Future Energy Hour, Alaska State Director Rick Whitbeck caught up with Kara Moriarty, the CEO of the Alaska Oil & Gas Association, as well as the OneAlaska campaign manager, whose coalition vanquished the “Alaska’s Fair Share” ballot measure in the recent election. Kara and Rick discussed the broad base of support she and her team built against the measure, and she noted the coalition had people and groups from “Utqiaġvik to Ketchikan to Bethel, and everywhere in-between…one of the best things about working on a campaign is working with amazing people, and that was certainly…

After 17 years of studies, nearly three years of federal permitting process and hundreds of millions of dollars, the Pebble Limited Partnership (PLP) filed its final document with the US Army Corps of Engineers under the requirements of the NEPA process, and now waits for its approval of the necessary federal permits to move forward with its mine plans. PLP’s final “compensatory mitigation plan” response was made tougher than normal by the Corps, but leadership at both the Anchorage and Vancouver, BC offices were upbeat in their press release touting the submission of the document, noting: “Based on the findings…

The process by which oil and gas producers weigh in on where they’d like to drill in the 10-02 area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) should begin tomorrow, according to a notice in today’s Federal Register. Per an accompanying press release, BLM Alaska State Director Chad Padgett noted, “This call for nominations brings us one step closer to holding a historic first Coastal Plain lease sale, satisfying the directive of Congress in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and advancing this administration’s policy of energy independence.” When the process starts tomorrow, so will a 30-day public comment…

Let’s assume for a minute that January 20, 2021, sees a new President sworn into office.  That occurrence will be a bitter day for some; a day of rejoicing for others.  Where will Alaska’s energy community fall?  We have a good idea, based on the priorities laid out during the campaign by the Biden/Harris team.  They very well could issue executive orders reversing much of the progress made toward American energy independence during the past four years.  But then again, they may not. If Joe Biden does end up living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for the next four years, here…

Preliminary results from Election Day show Alaskans realize how our state’s responsible development is key to Alaska’s future, as candidates endorsed by anti-development, extremist-mindset organizations didn’t fare well against candidates with a reasonable approach to balancing environmental stewardship with development. On federal races, Alaska seems certain to deliver our three electoral college votes to President Trump’s tally.  Senator Dan Sullivan will fend off the tens of millions of Outside money spent against him and defeat “The Bear Doctor”, Al Gross.  The “Dean of the House”, Congressman Don Young, seems certain to vanquish liberal challenger Alyse Galvin (for a second straight…

Well, at least the dozens of political mailers, robocalls and omnipresent media blasts are in the rearview mirror, Alaska. Now, we can only wait for results, and realize the ultimate outcome will launch Alaska’s energy community down one of two paths. The first, under four more years of President Trump’s leadership, will continue the move toward American energy independence for oil, gas and minerals.  It will continue to employ tens of thousands of Alaskans in jobs that have shaped this great state (and have been around – in some cases – for multiple generations). The first will still lead to…

2020 has been a challenging political year for Alaskans.  A year that started with Legislative disarray was further impacted by COVID-19 and, more recently, a deluge of political hijinks during the campaign season. But today marks the end of the race.  For the 150,000+ Alaskans who have already cast their ballots, today might seem anti-climactic.  For those of us who have yet to do so, today is the Super Bowl of the political season. Power The Future isn’t going to tell you who to vote for, but we will remind you what’s at stake in Alaska: More than one-quarter of…

Alaskans who realize the importance of energy and resource development jobs to the state’s economy have had two reasons to celebrate in the past 24 hours, as Records of Decision (RODs) for two projects have been released, allowing for forward momentum to occur for both. Yesterday, the ROD for the Willow oil and gas development project in the National Petroleum Reserve – Alaska (NPRA) was published.  This project, which could one day push an additional 160,000 barrels of oil through the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) and employ hundreds of Alaskans, is one of Alaska’s largest prospective fields.  The RoD allows…

One of the factors shredding energy employment in 2020 was the devastating drop in transportation due to COVID-19. Over one-quarter of all energy use is from transportation of people and goods across the nation. Southeast Alaska, which receives significantly more than one million cruise visitors in a “normal” summer, had employment numbers gutted.  Statewide, tourism jobs dropped by nearly a third as nearly every cruise was canceled by the last days of spring. Experts say that a return of travel – both for business and leisure – and tourism will be clear signs that energy demand will upswing. At least…