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Obama Limits on Alaskan Oil Threaten Pipeline Flow, Senator Says

(Bloomberg) — Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said the Obama administration’s restrictions on oil production in her state threatens to dry up supplies that could flow through the trans-Alaska pipeline. President Barack Obama has proposed declaring 12 million acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as wilderness, limiting offshore leasing in Alaska’s Beaufort and Chukchi Seas and block drilling in some portions of the National Petroleum Reserve. Those steps, announced Jan. 25, put much of the state off limits to new oil production, Murkowski said Tuesday. “The actions of this administration seem destined to shut down our trans-Alaska pipeline, weaken our economy, forcing our state to make steep budget cuts and really violating the promises that were made to us at statehood and since then,” Murkowski told Interior Secretary Sally Jewell at a hearing on the department’s budget. “As an energy producing state, this is what we do.” Without […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Arctic oil can wait, advocacy group says

Proposals for safe energy work in arctic U.S. waters stirs debate from environmental and industry circles. Photo by longtaildog/Shutterstock The Interior Department last week unveiled seven proposals meant to enhance regulations governing oil and gas operations on the arctic shelf of the United States. The new rules would require companies to adopt oil spill response plans suitable for the arctic environment and have the ability to drill a relief well in the event of a catastrophe like the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, among others. The government said the proposals follow an examination of arctic operations carried out by Dutch energy company Shell off the coast of Alaska in 2012. Michael LeVine, a senior counsel for advocacy group Oceana, said in response to email questions the federal government should start over with arctic energy regulations. "Good choices about whether to allow these activities and, if so, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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US Interior unveils Arctic oil, gas drilling regulations

Washington (Platts)–20Feb2015/359 pm EST/2059 GMT The Obama administration Friday issued proposed Arctic-specific drilling regulations that will apply to potential exploration operations in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas. The regulations include new requirements for operators to submit "region-specific" response plans for oil spills, have "prompt access" to source control and containment equipment, and have a separate relief rig available in case well control is lost, the Department of Interior said. "If there were to be an uncontrolled well event, we want to make sure that the well can be secured within the drilling season," Brian Salerno, director of Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, said during a conference call. That requirement was quickly criticized by industry. "Other equipment and methods, such as a capping stack, can be used to achieve the same season relief with equal or higher levels of safety and environmental protection," said Eric Milito, the American […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Arctic Oil Drillers Face Tighter U.S. Rules to Stop Spills

(Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc and any oil drilling company that prospects in the Arctic Ocean must boost safety practices to prevent spills in the frigid and often hostile waters or mitigate the impact, U.S. regulators proposed Friday. The Interior Department’s first Arctic-specific drilling rules respond to mishaps that plagued Shell as it sought oil north of Alaska three years ago. As the White House considered the plan, Shell said the requirements might make it too expensive to invest in the isolated but energy-rich waters. “The Arctic region is known for its challenging environmental conditions, geographic remoteness and relative lack of existing infrastructure,” according to the proposal from the department’s offshore safety agency. There is a “need to develop additional measures specifically tailored to the operational and environmental conditions of the Arctic.” Shell has said it wants to resume exploration when the weather gets warmer this year after […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Feds may open arctic Alaska to drillers

Shell signs two-year commitment to lease Seattle port for drilling program after Washington hints at opening parts of Alaskan waters for exploration. Photo: Don Wilson/Port of Seattle. The federal government published its final environmental impact statement on a lease plan first unveiled in 2008. The lease was tied in up the court system amid complaints about the extent of environmental vetting. "We remain committed to taking a thoughtful and balanced approach to oil and gas leasing and exploration in this unique, sensitive and often challenging environment," Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said in a statement. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled early last year the Interior Department did not properly evaluate the scale of oil production that could result in the Chukchi Sea when it sold more than $2.6 billion in development leases in the environmentally sensitive area in 2008. The ruling stemmed from a […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Exxon moves ahead with Alaska LNG project

Exxon submits draft reports on Alaska gas facility after Gov. Bill Walker drops lawsuit related to Point Thomson field development. Photo courtesy Gov. Bill Walker’s office Exxon Mobil said it submitted a draft environmental report to federal regulators for a $500 million liquefied natural gas project in Alaska. A preliminary engineering and design phase for the Alaska LNG project is under way. Steve Butt, Exxon’s project executive, said submitting a draft report to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission sets the permitting process in motion. "These draft documents, known as resource reports, allow Alaska stakeholders to engage early in the regulatory process, so potential environmental and socioeconomic issues and opportunities can be proactively identified and managed," he said in a Wednesday statement. The Alaska LNG project has foundations in production from Prudhoe Bay and Point Thomson fields in the state, which combine for an average 3.5 billion cubic feet of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Arctic Oil On Life Support

Oil companies have eyed the Arctic for years. With an estimated 90 billion barrels of oil lying north of the Arctic Circle, the circumpolar north is arguably the last corner of the globe that is still almost entirely unexplored. As drilling technology advances, conventional oil reserves become harder to find, and climate change contributes to melting sea ice, the Arctic has moved up on the list of priorities in oil company board rooms. That had companies moving north – Royal Dutch Shell off the coast of Alaska, Statoil in the Norwegian Arctic, and ExxonMobil in conjunction with Russia’s Rosneft in the Russian far north. But achieving the goals of tapping the extensive oil reserves in the Arctic has been much harder than previously thought. Shell’s mishaps have been well-documented. The Anglo-Dutch company failed to achieve permits on time, had its drill ships run aground , and saw its oil […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Obama Moves to Put Much of Refuge Off Limits to Drilling

President Barack Obama ’s call to restrict oil exploration on 12 million acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge probably won’t have much practical impact for an area already off-limits to drillers, though it’s created a new fault line with the Republican-led Congress. The White House on Sunday said it would ask Congress to designate “core areas” of the 19.8 million-acre refuge as wilderness, including its 1.5 million-acre coastal plain that geologists believe lies atop a rich oil reserve. “Designating vast areas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as wilderness reflects the significance this landscape holds for America and its wildlife,” Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said in the statement. The practical impact is slight because Republicans, who now control both chambers of Congress, voiced immediate opposition. And oil and gas production is already prohibited in the Arctic refuge. It does add to the list of energy issues that the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Murkowski: Obama’s Alaska move an act of war

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, says proposal to set aside more state acreage as a wilderness reserve is an act of war on a state that depends on oil revenue. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 (UPI) — The Obama administration has declared war on the economic future of Alaska by proposing new acreage as protected wilderness, congressional leaders said. The White House announced plans Sunday to set as 12 million of the 19 million acres in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska as protected wilderness . U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski , R-Alaska, chairwoman of the Senate Energy Committee, said in a statement President Barack Obama launched an assault on the health of the state’s economy with the policy recommendation. "It’s clear this administration does not care about us, and sees us as nothing but a territory," she said in a statement. "We will fight back with every […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Obama Moves to Put Much of Refuge Off Limits to Drilling

President Barack Obama ’s call to restrict oil exploration on 12 million acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge probably won’t have much practical impact for an area already off-limits to drillers, though it’s created a new fault line with the Republican-led Congress. The White House on Sunday said it would ask Congress to designate “core areas” of the 19.8 million-acre refuge as wilderness, including its 1.5 million-acre coastal plain that geologists believe lies atop a rich oil reserve. “Designating vast areas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as wilderness reflects the significance this landscape holds for America and its wildlife,” Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said in the statement. The practical impact is slight because Republicans, who now control both chambers of Congress, voiced immediate opposition. And oil and gas production is already prohibited in the Arctic refuge. It does add to the list of energy issues that the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple