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Alaska residents are paid a unique yearly dividend from state’s permanent fund

graph of Alaska permanent fund value and dividend, as explained in the article text The Alaska Permanent Fund, established using revenues paid to the state by oil and natural gas producers, provides Alaska residents with an annual cash dividend, which is unique among natural resource permanent funds in the United States . In 2014, the annual dividend was $1,884 per resident, more than double the 2013 dividend and the highest since 2008. All Alaska residents receive an annual cash dividend from the permanent fund. The fund was established by voters in 1976, as the extent of Alaska’s oil and natural gas resources began to emerge, and retains at least 25% of the royalties that oil and natural gas producers pay to produce on leased state lands. Those royalties have provided $800 million or more to the fund annually in recent years. The permanent fund is now worth more than […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Shell Pushes on with Arctic Exploration as it Awaits US Permit

LONDON, April 30 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell is pushing ahead with plans to explore for oil in the Arctic Ocean near Alaska this summer despite opposition from environmental groups. The Anglo-Dutch oil major is preparing "an armada of 25 vessels" to begin a two-year programme to explore two to three wells in the Chukchi Sea off the coast of Alaska, Chief Financial Officer Simon Henry said on Thursday. "We are currently on track. Some of the permits are issued at the last moment," he told reporters. Although Shell had to pull out of the region in 2012 after an oil rig ran aground, the Arctic oil reserve "remains a massive value opportunity," Simon said. Shell has submitted plans to explore the Arctic to the U.S. Interior Department after the Obama administration last month upheld a 2008 Arctic lease sale, clearing an important hurdle for Shell. The Department of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Greenpeace Group Boards Arctic Offshore Drill Rig In Pacific

Petty Officer Third Class Melissa McKenzie of the Coast Guard’s 14th District in Honolulu confirmed the Coast Guard received word from Blue Marlin crew members that a group had boarded the vessel. The office did not receive a request for assistance. The Polar Pioneer left Malaysia in early March. It is one of two drill rigs Shell hopes to use for exploratory drilling during the summer open water season in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska’s northwest coast if it can obtain all necessary permits. Shell last drilled in Arctic Ocean waters in 2012. Using two vessels, the company drilled pilot holes and performed other preliminary work in both the Chukchi and the Beaufort seas. Shell was prohibited from drilling into oil-bearing rock because it did not have required response equipment on hand. The company experienced problems in the challenging conditions, culminating with the drill vessel Kulluk, which was used […]

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Shell responds to federal decision on Alaskan waters

Shell reviews next steps offshore Alaska after federal government weighs in on 2008 lease sale. Photo by Kyle Waters/Shutterstock ANCHORAGE, Alaska, April 2 (UPI) — Shell said there are a series of contingencies to consider after a U.S. federal decision to reaffirm a lease for the arctic waters off the coast of Alaska. The Department of Interior this week affirmed a 2008 lease sale for exploration in the Chukchi Sea off the coast of Alaska. The decision clears the way for a formal review of exploration plans in the region, which will include an environmental analysis. The lease was tied in up the court system amid complaints about the extent of environmental vetting. Shell, which devoted about $5 billion and more than eight years of work for its arctic oil exploration off Alaska’s coast in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas, said the decision clears the way for a review […]

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US Approval Moves Shell A Step Closer To Arctic Drilling

WASHINGTON, March 31 (Reuters) – The U.S. Interior Department on Tuesday upheld a 2008 lease sale in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska, moving Royal Dutch Shell a step closer to returning to oil and gas exploration in the Arctic since it suffered mishaps in the region in 2012. "The Arctic is an important component of the Administration’s national energy strategy, and we remain committed to taking a thoughtful and balanced approach to oil and gas leasing and exploration offshore Alaska," said Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will next consider Shell’s exploration plan and perform an environmental assessment on it, which could take at least 30 days. Shell lost control of a massive oil rig called the Kulluk in 2012, which eventually ran aground. But in anticipation of returning to the region for the first time since then, Shell has already moved rigs to Alaska. […]

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Shell Moves Rigs To Alaska Ahead Of Possible Drilling Permit

Shell is moving oil rigs to Alaska ahead of the possible resumption of controversial drilling activities as the oil major awaits the green light from US authorities. LONDON, March 27 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell is moving oil rigs to Alaska ahead of the possible resumption of controversial drilling activities as the oil major awaits the green light from U.S. authorities. The Anglo-Dutch oil major hopes to revive its Arctic drilling programme two years after the grounding of a rig in Alaska that led to a huge uproar from environmental groups. But even before getting the go-ahead from the U.S. interior secretary, Shell is moving the drilling rigs Noble Discoverer and Polar Pioneer to the area in anticipation of the short operations window in summer. The vessel are "heading to North America ahead of a potential 2015 drilling season," a Shell spokeswoman told Reuters. "Any final decision to go […]

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Oil Council: Shale Won’t Last, Arctic Drilling Needed Now

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. should immediately begin a push to exploit its enormous trove of oil in the Arctic waters off of Alaska, or risk a renewed reliance on imported oil in the future, an Energy Department advisory council says in a study to be released Friday. The U.S. has drastically cut imports and transformed itself into the world’s biggest producer of oil and natural gas by tapping huge reserves in shale rock formations. But the government predicts that the shale boom won’t last much beyond the next decade. In order for the U.S. to keep domestic production high and imports low, oil companies should start probing the Artic now because it takes 10 to 30 years of preparation and drilling to bring oil to market, according to a draft of the study’s executive summary obtained by the Associated Press. "To remain globally competitive and to be positioned […]

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Shell expects to drill offshore Alaska this year

Sign up for our daily Energy Newsletter Shell says it expects to proceed with drilling program in arctic waters off the coast of Alaska this year. Photo by Kyle Waters/Shutterstock THE HAGUE, Netherlands, March 12 (UPI) — Drilling in the arctic waters of Alaska should proceed this year assuming timely approval from the U.S. federal government, Royal Dutch Shell said Thursday. Shell’s preliminary drilling program in arctic waters offshore Alaska in 2012 was plagued by problems, including a grounded drilling rig, violations of air pollution limits, engine failures on a tow ship and an oil spill containment system damaged during testing. Shell Chief Executive Ben van Beurden said in an annual report , published Thursday, the Interior Department was reviewing a supplementary environmental impact statement on operations in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. "We anticipate that the Department of Interior will continue to work in accordance with their proposed […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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To Drill or Not to Drill: That is the Question

Here’s a Jeopardy!- style question for you: “Eight different species of whales can be seen in these two American seas.” Unless you’re an Iñupiaq, a marine biologist, or an Arctic enthusiast like me, it’s a pretty good guess that you can’t tell me what those seas are or what those whales are either. The answer: the Chukchi Sea and the adjacent Beaufort Sea, off Arctic Alaska, and you can commonly spot bowhead, beluga, and grey whales there, while fin whales, minkes, humpbacks, killer whales, and narwhals are all venturing into these seas ever more often as the Arctic and its waters continue to warm rapidly. The problem, however, is that the major oil company Royal Dutch Shell wants to drill in the Chukchi Sea this summer and that could, in the long term, spell doom for one of the last great, relatively untouched oceanic environments on the planet. Let […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple