Today’s Key Takeaways: Future is bright for Willow and Pikka projects. “Gobs” of natural gas in Alaska. Governor Dunleavy call on Biden to update permit process. Peltola most popular Alaska politician – still in a tough race.
Both companies are building major projects, and senior officials told an industry audience that the future is bright for new oil development in Arctic Alaska
Managers of two oil companies with major North Slope projects underway gave a bullish assessment of the region’s prospects in presentations at an industry conference Friday in Anchorage.
ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc., which is building its large Willow project that is expected to generate up with 180,000 barrels a day when production starts at the end of the decade, is similarly busy at its established oil sites elsewhere on the North Slope, said Connor Dunn, a senior vice president with the company, in his presentation at the Meet Alaska 2024 conference.
“Whilst Willow has been big and public and required a lot of focus, there’s just as much activity across Kuparuk and Prudhoe and elsewhere on the Slope. So it’s a really exciting decade ahead for our industry in this stable fiscal environment,” said Dunn, who oversees Willow development.
He said there has been “a real wave of projects and development that really is bursting new life into the North Slope.”
Mark Ireland, senior vice president for subsurface and exploration at Santos, the company developing the huge Pikka project on state land east of Willow, was also enthusiastic about the North Slope’s long-term prospects.
“We’re seeing levels of activity that we haven’t seen for a decade or so, with more to come,” Ireland, an Alaska oil veteran whose North Slope work dates back to the early 1990s, told the Meet Alaska audience.
Meet Alaska is an annual conference held by the Alaska Support Industry Alliance, a trade association of oil support companies.
Three hours south of Anchorage sits a natural gas storage facility filled with pipes and whirring machinery. John Sims is the president of Enstar, the utility that provides gas powering 152,000 customers and electric utilities across a wide swath of the state.
“One hundred percent of our gas, since 1961, has come from Cook Inlet, which is right in our backyard,” said Sims.
Cook Inlet is a major gas production basin that is crucial to the state’s energy needs. And here at Cook Inlet Natural Gas Storage Alaska, or CINGSA, Enstar shoots gas into underground reservoirs for later — like when temperatures plunge to 20 below zero Fahrenheit and Alaskans turn up their furnaces and space heaters.
“This facility plays a massive part in making sure that the utility can meet those demands,” Sims said.
Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy called on President Joe Biden on Wednesday to update and streamline the US mine permitting process in order to boost domestic production of critical minerals and reduce dependence on foreign nations.
The push echoes calls from the mining industry for clarity on how permits can be obtained for mines that produce copper, lithium and other energy transition minerals. Executives have long complained the US process can be complex, expensive and opaque due in part to a federal mining law enacted in 1872.
“Our message to the Biden administration is, ‘Do everything you can to do everything here in America. Get your permitting processes streamlined,'” Dunleavy told Reuters on the sidelines of the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston.
“If we don’t get our permitting processes together, if we don’t start to use data and science again instead of emotion, this chaos is going to continue,” he said.
Three new members are joining the Alaska Mining Hall of Fame.
Gail Gordon Park, Joseph Emil Usibelli and Walter Roman will be inducted in a ceremony from 7-9 p.m. Wednesday, March 27, at the Alaska Mining Hall of Fame Museum, 406 Cushman St. There is no charge
New Data for Progress polling finds U.S. Representative Mary Peltola with the highest approval of any of Alaska’s top elected officials. Even so, November’s ranked-choice election is a toss-up.
Among Alaska’s Congressional Delegation and House Candidates, Representative Peltola Is Most Favorable
When asked if they have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Alaska’s top elected officials, 51% of voters have a favorable opinion of Peltola, compared with 41% unfavorable, for a +10 net favorability. This is higher net favorability than the other members of Alaska’s congressional delegation, Senators Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski, with +3 and +2 net favorability, respectively.
Peltola’s election opponents are also viewed less favorably. Nick Begich’s favorability is 40% favorable, 40% unfavorable, and 20% haven’t heard enough to say. Nancy Dahlstrom, currently Alaska’s lieutenant governor, is even more unknown, coming in at 14% favorable, 21% unfavorable, and 65% haven’t heard enough to say.
The Alaska House Race Is a Toss-Up
The November election for Alaska’s House seat will be conducted using ranked-choice voting, where voters will be asked to rank four candidates.
The poll presented a hypothetical set of four likely candidates (Peltola, Begich, Dahlstrom, and Chris Bye), and voters were asked to rank them each from 1-4, as they will do in November.
Even eight months out from the election, only 8% of voters respond that they aren’t sure how they will rank their choices, and the results foretell a very tight race. In the poll’s hypothetical ranked-choice election, Bye is eliminated first, then Dahlstrom, leaving Peltola and Begich in a true toss-up at 50% each. (See the end of this post for a full round-by-round breakdown.)
Back in 1984, we were the first sponsor and keynote speaker at the inaugural conference for The Alliance. 40 years later, we are pleased to kick off Meet Alaska with an Alaska Activity Update from VP Willow, Connor Dunn. #MeetAK24#ConocoPhillipsAlaskapic.twitter.com/12uhtOZhO4
Today’s Key Takeaways: Feds stop attempt to halt oil and gas work near the Beaufort Sea. DOE deems AKLNG “in the public interest.” Final environmental impact analysis on Ambler road is coming soon. Senator Sullivan moves to overturn Biden standards on tailgate emissions -aka EV mandate.
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined Tuesday to halt significant amounts of oil and gas work on and near Alaska’s Beaufort Sea coast despite concluding that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service erred when it granted permission for oil companies to harass nearby polar bears.
In 24 pages published Tuesday, the judges issued a split decision that partially overturns a prior Alaska U.S. District Court decision that upheld the Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2021 “incidental take regulation” as applied to the Beaufort Sea, which is adjacent to Alaska’s North Slope oil fields.
Such regulations are required every five years by the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act, which restricts companies’ ability to kill, injure or disturb protected animals during construction or other work that might disturb them.
Judges Margaret McKeown and Jay Bybee, ruling in the majority, said the Fish and Wildlife Service failed to properly justify parts of its 2021 regulation.
Judge Daniel Bress, writing in dissent, disagreed with that opinion, and said he would have ruled fully in favor of the Fish and Wildlife Service.
The Alaska Wildlife Alliance, Alaska Wilderness League, and other environmental groups had sued the Fish and Wildlife Service over the 2021 regulation with hopes of halting oil and gas work in northern Alaska.
Despite ruling partially in plaintiffs’ favor, the judges declined to grant that request, saying that “vacating the 2021 ITR would in essence criminalize the act of knowingly operating as an oil company in the Beaufort Sea.”
The Department of Energy is defending its decision to re-approve exports from a massive liquefied natural gas project in Alaska, even as the agency acknowledged the project would likely result in a net increase in global greenhouse gas emissions.
In a brief filed in federal court last week, DOE said it has broad discretion under federal law to deem Alaska LNG to be in the public interest, a finding that is being disputed by environmental groups. The agency’s determination predates its January decision to pause new LNG export approvals as it takes a closer look at the effect that shipping natural gas overseas has on climate change and energy costs.
The $43 billion Alaska LNG project includes an 800-mile pipeline connecting a gas treatment facility in Alaska’s remote North Slope to a liquefaction facility in the south of the state. Most of the LNG from the project would be exported, starting in 2032.
“Here, DOE reasonably determined, based on a thorough consideration and discussion of all pertinent benefits and potential harms, that it lacked a basis for finding that Alaska LNG exports would be inconsistent with the public interest,” Justice Department attorneys wrote in a brief filed Friday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
A final environmental impact analysis, followed by a decision about whether the Ambler Access Project will be allowed to be built, is expected by midyear, according to a status report filed as part of a lawsuit seeking to block the controversial project.
What is known as the final supplemental impact statement, or final supplemental EIS, will likely be completed in the second quarter of this year, said the status report filed on Monday in U.S. District Court by Justice Department attorneys.
That is a little later than previously anticipated, the status report said. Previously, the final SEIS was expected to be released in the first quarter of the year, the status report said.
The supplemental EIS was launched in 2022 in response to litigation. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management started the process to address what it determined were deficiencies in the environmental reviews conducted during the Trump administration.
The Ambler Access Project is a proposed 211-mile road that would pass through the Brooks Range foothills to enable commercial development of multiple mines in the remote Ambler district of Northwest Alaska. The mine sites hold copper, along with other metals.
While the BLM approved construction of the road in 2020 under the Trump administration, the agency determined that there had been insufficient analysis of the project’s impacts.
A draft supplemental EIS released in October found that the Trump administration analysis had understated the road’s anticipated disruptions to traditional subsistence hunting and fishing and its expected damage to the region’s permafrost.
The supplemental EIS process has been contentious.
BREAKING: Senate Republicans are introducing a disapproval resolution to overturn the Biden administration’s standards for reducing tailpipe emissions for new vehicles, finalized just minutes before.
Sens. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska and Dan Sullivan of Alaska, both members of the Environment and Public Works Committee, are introducing two separate disapproval resolutions that would overturn the finalized rule, which would create further restrictions on new vehicle emissions. The pair called the standards “delusional,” and deemed them an electric vehicle mandate that would make it harder for consumers to buy and maintain cars.
“This is the Biden administration’s attempt to get rid of the internal-combustion engine without congressional authority,” the senators said in a statement. “Congress must take action to keep vehicle costs down, protect our free-market economy, and defend consumer choice. We can’t allow Biden to make us more reliant on foreign adversaries like China who control the critical minerals needed for electric vehicles.”
The pair reasoned that the push for EVs would not work in their home states – where extreme cold, isolated communities, and long-distance drives would make for a hazardous combination for the vehicles.
Some background: The EPA’s finalized rule is a watered-down version compared to the original proposal, Breanne writes. While the EPA will still seek for EVs to make up 67% of new car sales by 2032, it will allow automakers to do so using other mixes of vehicles, including plug-in hybrids, strong hybrids, and improved ICE vehicles, in addition to pure battery electric vehicles.
The key part: The administration has faced pushback from auto manufacturers as it attempts to deliver on its EV targets, with manufacturing trade groups arguing that the administration’s EV sales targets are not achievable in the intended timeframe, and risked limiting consumer choice while triggering price hikes for all types of vehicles.
The new rule regulates tailpipe emissions for light and medium-duty vehicles, while another rule regulating heavy-duty vehicles will be introduced at a later time. Ricketts introduced a disapproval resolution for Wednesday’s rule, and Sullivan will be introducing the resolution dealing with heavy-duty vehicles once the rule is finalized.
A long time coming: Sullivan and Ricketts had vowed to introduce resolutions overturning the rule when it was first proposed in 2023, arguing that the standards weren’t achievable. Sen. Joe Manchin said then that he would support an effort to overturn the rule, so be on the lookout for how he votes when this comes to the floor. From the Washington Examiner, Daily on Energy , March 20, 2024
Today’s Key Takeaways: Alaska’s trucking booming – high wages, driver shortages. Biden admin supports AKLNG authorization – touts energy security, climate, and economic benefits. Pebble sues EPA over preemptive veto while state asks feds for $700 billing for stopping the mine. Do we really need $8 billion for 50,000 climate corps government workers?
NEWS OF THE DAY:
FOR YOUR RADAR: CERAWeek begins: Top oil and gas executives and senior administration officials will take center stage in Houston today for the first day of CERAWeek, the annual conference hosted by S&P Global and dubbed by some as the “Super Bowl of energy.”
Today’s lineup of speakers includes the CEOs of Exxon, Saudi Aramco, TotalEnergies, Shell, and Petroleo Brasileiro, for the morning session. This afternoon, senior Biden administration officials including Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, White House energy adviser Amos Hochstein, and U.S. climate envoy John Podesta will be among those delivering remarks.
Trucking is booming in Alaska compared to the Lower 48 where a massive freight recession has resulted in recent bankruptcies and layoffs.
A chronic driver shortage has boosted pay, with full-time truck drivers in Alaska able to earn up to $175,000 annually.
The increase in truck traffic related to new oil production and gold mining is causing some backlash from lawmakers.
The Lower 48 has experienced a massive freight recession over the past few years, but the opposite is occurring in one place in the United States: Alaska.
With various North Slope oil production projects just ramping up, the years ahead look very promising for trucking in Alaska.
“This is probably the best trucking has been in Alaska since 2000,” said Jeremy Miller, vice president of operations at Anchorage-based Carlile Transportation Systems, who has been with Carlile since 1998.
Among the new North Slope activities is the ConocoPhillips Willow Project, which the Biden administration approved last year. Willow had been delayed and mired in controversy over its potential environmental impact on pristine Arctic lands, but now that work has been greenlighted, construction of oil pads and camps has commenced. Willow is expected to generate 600 million barrels of oil total, or 180,000 barrels a day at its peak, according to ConocoPhillips.
Department of Justice Emphasizes Alaska LNG’s Compelling Energy Security, Climate, and Economic Benefits
The Biden Administration forcefully supported the export authorization for the Alaska LNG Project, the only FERC- and DOE-authorized U.S. LNG export project with direct Pacific access, in a March 15 U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) brief on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Alaska LNG is unaffected by the Biden Administration’s LNG export authorization freeze announced on January 26, 2024.
The DOJ brief highlights key energy security, climate, and economic benefits of Alaska LNG.
Alaska LNG Energy Security Benefits:
“Providing Alaska LNG for export will expand and diversify global LNG supply, which will provide enhanced energy security for U.S. allies and trading partners in the event of disruptions in other global supply due to geopolitical events or natural disasters.”
Alaska LNG Climate Benefits:
“…it is undisputed that if global demand for U.S. LNG exports fails to prompt a net increase in U.S. LNG exports, the climate impacts of shifting U.S. LNG production to Alaska would be net beneficial (emphasis in original).”
Alaska LNG Economic Benefits:
“DOE reiterated its prior determination that Alaska LNG exports likely would produce economic benefits, including ‘indirect job creation in the exploration, development, production, and transportation of natural gas; improvements in consumer welfare in Alaska; lower natural gas prices in Alaska; and overall economic benefits for the United States as a whole, as represented by gross domestic product.’”
The DOJ filing responds to the challenge of DOE’s Alaska LNG export authorization by Sierra Club and Center for Biological Diversity pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The DOJ concludes that the Sierra Club and Center for Biological Diversity challenge “‘likely significantly overstates’ project impacts”:
“These objections are misguided and do not overcome the deference due the expert agency’s scientific and technical judgments. The Natural Gas Act gives DOE broad discretion in assessing the public interest and directs DOE to deny an export application only if DOE makes an affirmative finding that proposed exports will not be consistent with the public interest. DOE properly exercised its discretion, considering all pertinent issues, and providing a reasoned explanation for its decision. The petition for review should be denied.”
The company behind the giant Pebble copper and gold mine project in Southwest Alaska filed suit against the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday to overturn its decision last year to halt the mine.
Also, the company and the administration of Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Thursday filed separate takings claims with a federal court, seeking compensation after the EPA decision blocked the prospect on state land.
“We are filing litigation to fully contest the EPA’s unprecedented and unlawful actions against the Pebble Project,” said John Shively, chief executive of Pebble Limited Partnership, in a statement from the company. “Since our objections to the politically motivated actions by the EPA have long fallen on deaf ears, we have sued the agency in federal court in Alaska to have our issues fairly and objectively heard.”
PTF Calls on Congress to Defund Biden’s Climate Corps
Washington, D.C. – Today, Power The Future called on Congress to defund President Joe Biden’s “American Climate Corps,” which was outlined in last week’s White House budget proposal to the tune of $8 billion dollars to hire 50,000 government workers. While the move is supported by U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and other backers of the Green New Deal, the $8 billion price tag is nearly double the $4.7 billion Biden requested as a contingency fund to aid the border. “Let’s be clear: Joe Biden wants 50,000 new climate activists pushing his extreme agenda on the taxpayers’ dime. Congress needs to defund this effort immediately,” said Daniel Turner, Founder and Executive Director for Power The Future. “It’s not a coincidence the President wants thousands of these activists on the payroll before Election Day because they will be another arm of his campaign effort. When Congress drafts their respective budgets, they must ensure this effort doesn’t get a single dollar.” For context, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has a workforce of less than 20,000, as does the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Both of those agencies have a clear mission and are funded through and accountable to Congress. In October 2023, members of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability launched an investigation into the Climate Corps. Biden’s budget proposal next heads to the House Committee on the Budget and the Senate Committee on the Budget who each write and vote on their own budget resolutions.
A Wall Street Journal poll found more than three-quarters of voters under 30 think the country is moving in the wrong direction—a greater share than any other age group https://t.co/92TktiLjgQpic.twitter.com/GXvye5GFb4
With all eyes focused on education in Juneau, and especially the funding of education for Alaska students, It’s important to remember that there are organizations outside of the school districts who play a critical role in educating our students, at their own expense. These organizations often fill a gap in curriculum that school districts don’t have the resources to provide.
Training 40,000+ students in Alaska over the last 5 years – many of them in rural communities.
Providing curriculum that is focused on ALL of Alaska’s natural resources: Forestry, Rocks and Minerals, Mining, Energy and Electricity, Oil and Gas, and Renewable Energy.
Providing curriculum about Economics and Energy Costs
Providing programs for workforce development, helping students identify career training opportunities here in Alaska.
Youth programs that include work with the Girl Scouts, STEM Camps and Scholarships.
Alaska Resource Education clearly plays a crucial role in fundamental education and workforce development for Alaska’s natural resource industries. No other organization is reaching this many Alaska students with such a diverse, comprehensive curriculum that encourages students to pursue careers in Alaska.
In addition to their regular program, which taught 12,000 students in 2023 about basic science and economics associated with Alaska’s natural resources, ARE offered the following extended programs:
Powerful Opportunities for Women in Resources (POWR): A district-wide program for female students in Anchorage to learn about Alaska’s mineral and energy resources as well as the wide range of career opportunities while also busting the myth that these jobs are only “for the boys.”
Bristol Bay CTE energy camp: A week-long intensive for students from all 4 school districts in the Bristol Bay region being offered for dual credit through the UA system. During this camp, students explore training locations and career opportunities in energy and support service industries throughout the Kenai Peninsula.
ARE Rockstars: This week-long camp hosted at NACTEC in Nome will bring students from across the Bering Sea region to learn all about cross-industry careers students can have right out of high school, including geotechnical, soil sampling, heavy equipment operators, and many more that are relevant to the infrastructure and mining projects that are proposed for the region.
Kuslivak Career Academy: 3 quarters of curriculum and direct instruction for students from across Southwest Alaska in LKSD attending the academy. In these programs, students explore and engage with the intricate choices Alaskans must make in the realms of transportation and infrastructure, energy, and resource development through hands-on and problem-based learning.
Just this month, ARE released its latest curriculum, Alaska’s Renewable Revenue, which is designed to teach middle and high school students about financial literacy, the Fund, its structure, investment management, and how the Fund is used to convert non-renewable mineral resources into a renewable economic resource for Alaska.
Alaska Resource Education is bridging the gap between Alaska’s natural resources and Alaska’s students – providing workforce development programs and critical education that are essential for individual success, economic vitality, and community well-being.
We hope the legislature agrees.
On March 13, 1968, oil was discovered on Alaska's North Slope – marking a turning point in the history of the state and the United States as a whole. pic.twitter.com/rqpabsL7u0
Today’s Key Takeaways: Study recommends new coal-fired power plant for Railbelt. Geopolitics and supply chain dominant themes for oil and gas in 2024. US LNG exporters are getting ahead on carbon capture. Resolution from Ambler Access committee to keep road private. $8b in renewable projects in jeopardy.
A study from the University of Alaska Fairbanks recommends that a coal-fired power plant be built in Southcentral Alaska to generate electricity for the Railbelt.
State legislators have been considering measures to address a fast approaching shortfall of Cook Inlet natural gas, which provides the vast majority of Southcentral’s heat and power. Large-scale imported natural gas has been touted as a potential solution, but legislators learned last month that it will likely only start being available in 2030. Costs for consumers have been expected to increase substantially.
UAF’s feasibility study, published last week, assumes that a coal power plant would be built off the contentious West Susitna Access Road near proven coal seams. And it assumes the plant would be fitted with carbon capture and storage technology, or CCS, which would allow carbon dioxide emissions to be stored underground.
”This study concludes a new biomass-coal power plant with CCS in Southcentral is attractive and can deliver affordable, reliable, clean, long-term energy security,” the 86-page report says.
Geopolitics and supply chain dynamics will dictate the oil and gas outlook in 2024.
That’s according to GlobalData, which said in a release sent to Rigzone that the oil and gas industry has witnessed a considerable upheaval in its supply chains amid the protracted Russia-Ukraine conflict and renewed tensions in the Middle East.
“Both of these conflicts could potentially disrupt global oil and gas supplies in 2024, and hence, the themes of geopolitics and supply chains are the hot topics for this year,” GlobalData noted in the release.
“It is therefore important for the oil and gas industry to assess the impact of these themes while charting out their growth plans,” the company added.
In its release, GlobalData outlined that a recently released thematic report from the company revealed “the leading themes that could have a significant impact on oil and gas operations in 2024”. The report outlined several “key players,” including BP, Shell, TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Eni, Equinor, PetroChina, and Saudi Aramco.
More North American LNG developers are exploring carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) to reduce their emissions footprints, with several projects in various stages of development along the US Gulf Coast. But it is just a matter of time before such projects become an integral part of the LNG export permitting process, according to one industry advocate.
“There’s no permitting requirement for it. However, the passive aggressive response from the [Environmental Protection Agency] is, ‘Where’s your CCS program and investment strategy?’ On something that’s not even required,” Charles McConnell, executive director at the University of Houston’s Center for Carbon Management in Energy, said at a recent industry event in Houston.
“I think just right now, taking comfort that it’s not a requirement would be a mistake, because it’s coming,” he said.
The Biden administration is taking a harder look at how it evaluates climate impact in the permitting process for LNG export authorizations from the Department of Energy, although it’s not clear whether the effort will bleed into the EPA. The latter agency already reviews environmental impact statements as part of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission process for approving terminal operation and construction.
LNG developers including NextDecade, Sempra and Venture Global have all rolled out plans to develop CCS facilities at their projects in Texas and Louisiana. Cheniere Energy has also said it is making accommodations for CCS at its proposed Sabine Pass Stage 5 expansion.
In addition to pressure from regulators and environmentalists, these companies have a business case for adding CCS to their facilities : many European and Asian buyers have made clear they want greener LNG.
Ambler Access Project Subsistence Advisory Committee passes resolution for policies to protect fish and wildlife and keep road private.
Leveraging nearly four decades of success when it comes to protecting and managing subsistence resources along the 50-mile road that connects the Red Dog Mine to a port on Alaska’s west coast, the Ambler Access Project Subsistence Advisory Committee (SAC) passed a resolution to establish policies that will protect subsistence resources along the 211-mile road that will connect the Ambler Mining District to Alaska’s highway system to the east.
“We’re not just building a road; we’re forging a legacy for our children, guided by the wisdom of our ancestors,” said Larry Westlake Sr., co-chair of the Ambler Access Project Subsistence Advisory Committee from the village of Kiana. “This is our journey, our responsibility, and our commitment to the well-being of our communities. This subsistence policy resolution does this exactly.”
Over $8 billion in investments in renewable energy are now at risk in the wake of a ban on some renewable projects in Alberta.
Pembina Institute: the ban puts 6.3 gigawatts of solar and wind power capacity at risk.
The new rules are intended to guide future wind and solar developments and establish a 35-kilometer buffer zone between such projects and protected areas or “pristine landscapes”.
"All we have managed to do halfway through the intended grand global energy transition is a small relative decline in the share of fossil fuel in the world’s primary energy consumption—from nearly 86 percent in 1997 to about 82 percent in 2022."https://t.co/lanjJTDSAM
