BP Plc and ConocoPhillips , looking to benefit from the repeal of an Alaska oil tax championed by Sarah Palin when she was governor, are chasing enough crude to end the state’s two-decade-long slump in production. Governor Sean Parnell signed a bill in May that wipes out a system backed by Palin tying oil producers’ taxes to the price of crude. The end of the “progressivity” formula has triggered investments from companies including BP and Conoco that may boost the state’s output by at least 90,000 barrels a day within four years and renew exploration in the nation’s second-largest oil reserve, estimated at 3.82 billion barrels. The increase would signal a resurgence for Alaska , which tied as the country’s largest oil supplier in the 1980s and has since fallen to fourth place. Lower taxes may further enhance the allure of drilling for Alaskan crude, which can […]