by wp_sysadmin | Mar 31, 2025 | Home, News
Today’s Key Takeaways: Majors signal oil isn’t going anywhere. New majority owner for AKLNG. Graphite One increases Alaska mine reserves. Just Stop Oil – stops.
OIL:
BP, Shell, and Exxon Signal One Thing: Oil Isn’t Going Anywhere
Irina Slav, OilPrice.com, March 29, 2025
- BP, Shell, Exxon, and Chevron are boosting fossil fuel investments after disappointing returns on green energy ventures.
- BP is increasing oil and gas spending by 25% and Shell is prioritizing LNG growth.
- U.S. supermajors stayed the course and are now outperforming.
Ever since BP admitted that its attempt to go green had ended in a disaster, the flow of news from the energy industry has been in one single direction: back to oil and gas, which make money. Indeed, Big Oil has finally accepted it will not transform into Big Green Power and has gone back to what it does best: hydrocarbons.
In late February, when it made its very unsurprising admission, BP said it would boost spending on oil and gas production by 25% annually while slashing investments in transition-related business by 70%. The new strategy did not come easily to BP’s leadership, by the way. It came as the result of a pressure campaign from activist investor Elliot Management, which called BP out on its unrealistic expectations from the transition gamble.
As part of turnaround plans, the supermajor eyes launching an impressive 27 new oil and gas projects over the next five years, the FT reported in an overview of the company’s midterm strategy, noting, however, that even with these projects, BP’s 2030 oil and gas production will be slightly lower than its 2019 production—per plans. The important bit, however, is that it will not be reducing this production as it previously intended to do amid its green pivot.
Now, while BP has made no special mention of natural gas as a focus for its strategy, the overall shift in targets to refocus on the core business speaks volumes, and these volumes are not in favor of switching from hydrocarbons to electricity. The supermajor just announced the final investment decision on a Trinidad and Tobago gas project, due to start producing in two years with a peak output of 62,000 barrels of oil equivalent daily. It also got an approval from the Iraqi government to start the development of two oil fields in the north. BP is very much back.
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GAS:
Glenfarne Taking Lead Role in Alaska LNG Project
Staff, March 31, 2025, Energy Tech
Alaska LNG is designed to deliver North Slope natural gas to customers and utilities in the state while also exporting up to 20 million tons of LNG per year.
The only liquified natural gas (LNG) export project federally permitted on the U.S. Pacific Coast so far has a new majority owner to lead the work toward eventual operations.
Glenfarne Alaska LNG signed a definitive agreement with the Alaska Gasline Development Corp. (AGDC) to lead work on the Alaska LNG project. Alaska LNG is designed to deliver North Slope natural gas to customers and utilities in the state while also exporting up to 20 million tons of LNG per year.
As part of the agreement, AGDC is divesting 75% of 8 Star Alaska, a subsidiary of AGDC managing all Alaska LNG project assets, to Glenfarne. Glenfarne assumes the role of Alaska LNG’s lead developer and will lead all remaining development work of the LNG project from front-end engineering and design (FEED) through to a final investment decision (FID).
AGDC will be a 25% owner of 8 Star Alaska as well as a partner to Glenfarne on the project.
“Alaska LNG will provide desperately needed energy security and natural gas cost savings for Alaskans and give Glenfarne unmatched flexibility to simultaneously serve LNG markets in both Asia and Europe through our three LNG projects,” said Glenfarne Chief Executive Officer and Founder Brendan Duval.
The U.S. Department of the Interior approved right-of-way permits for the Alaska LNG Pipeline Project in August 2020.
Alaska LNG’s three subprojects are an 807-mile 42-inch pipeline, the 20 MTPA LNG export terminal in Nikiski, Alaska, and a North Slope-based carbon capture plant to remove and store 7 million tons of carbon dioxide annually.
Phase one of the LNG project will initiate soon, prioritizing the development and final investment decision of the pipeline infrastructure required to deliver North Slope gas to Alaskans. The State of Alaska will retain a 25% share in 8 Star Alaska and have the option to invest up to 25% in any or all of the three 8 Star Alaska subprojects after a final investment decision.
The United States is currently the biggest exporter of LNG in the world. Natural gas is chilled to minus 260 degrees Fahrenheit to liquify and make it stable for shipping.
Most of the currently operational U.S. LNG liquefaction and export terminals are located on the Gulf of Mexico coast. Europe and Asia are leading off-takers of U.S. LNG.
MINING
Graphite One triples Alaska’s mine reserves
Cecelia Jamasmie, Mining.Com, March 28, 2025
Canadian junior Graphite One (TSX‐V: GPH) has published preliminary results from a new feasibility study on its Graphite Creek project in Alaska, revealing a threefold increase in projected production compared to earlier estimates.
The critical minerals explorer and developer said it plans to file the full study in April and will now move into the permitting phase.
The announcement comes on the heels of an executive order signed by President Donald Trump aimed at reducing the country’s heavy reliance on mineral imports.
Chief executive Anthony Huston credited grant support under the United States’ Defense Production Act (DPA) for accelerating the feasibility study by 15 months and enabling an expanded drilling program.
According to the new results, the Graphite Creek project near Alaska’s west coast hosts 3.72 million tonnes of graphite in 71.2 million tonnes of proven and probable reserves averaging 5.2% graphite. This would allow the mine to produce 175,000 tonnes of graphite concentrate annually for more than two decades.
“With these new results, Graphite Creek is now triple the size when the US Geological Survey reported just three years ago that Graphite Creek was the largest flake graphite deposit in the US,” Huston said.
Even before Trump returned to the Oval Office with a pledge to strengthen domestic critical mineral production —particularly in Alaska— Graphite One had already secured federal backing for its plan to develop a complete mine-to-electric vehicle (EV) graphite supply chain in the US.
The ore mined in western Alaska will be shipped to a processing and recycling plant the company is building in Ohio, where it will be refined into battery-grade anode material and other advanced graphite products.
To complete the supply chain, Graphite One secured last year a deal with electric car maker Lucid Group (NASDAQ: LCID) to provide it with graphite anode material for the batteries going into its EVs.
POLITICS:
Victories
Julianne Geiger, OilPrice.com, March 27, 2025
After three years of attention-seeking behavior hurling tomato bisque at masterpieces and glue-sticking themselves to random surfaces, the UK’s most orange-vested climate troupe, Just Stop Oil, has decided to… well, stop.
Yes, the group that brought us soup-covered Van Goghs, powder paint vandalism at Stonehenge, and a Magna Carta shatterfest is hanging up the hi-vis vests at the end of April, the group said today in a press release as it claimed victory.
Their logic? The UK government has (sort of) agreed to their original demand: no new oil and gas exploration licenses. Of course, the same government is also greenlighting tiebacks to existing fields and giving the windfall tax a retirement date—so the oil is still flowing, just now with a polite legal workaround. But don’t let that nuance get in the way of a good press release.
Of course, the notice also follows tougher anti-protest laws that have made it more difficult for the group to do what it does best: vandalize. It also comes at a time when disruptive protests have seemed to fall quickly out of fashion. Extinction Rebellion bailed on attention-grabbing antics last year. With tighter protest laws and dwindling public patience, even the loudest activists are starting to read the room.
“We kept 4.4 billion barrels of oil in the ground,” Just Stop Oil announced, counting hypothetical barrels like imaginary friends. That figure assumes every single potential project was about to leap off the drawing board before they showed up with soup cans and glue. Bold.
The group is funded in large part by the Climate Emergency Fund—a U.S. nonprofit whose donors include heirs to oil fortunes.
As for what’s next, Just Stop Oil is citing the need for a “revolution” to tackle “mass death and rising fascism,” which feels like quite the pivot from fossil fuels.
by wp_sysadmin | Mar 28, 2025 | Home, News
Trump order adds to Alaska mining tailwinds
Shane Lasley, North of 60 Mining News, March 24, 2025
American mineral production executive order removes federal hurdles as strong metals prices put winds in Alaska mining sails.
March 20, 2025, will likely be remembered as the day that the federal government pivoted from being one of the largest hurdles to Alaska’s mining sector to a partner in unleashing the extraordinary mineral potential across America’s 49th State.
“It’s time for the U.S. to embrace Alaska’s abundant and largely untapped resources as a pathway to prosperity for the nation, including Alaskans,” U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said during the March 20 announcement that he is taking steps to unleash Alaska’s natural resources potential.
On the same day, President Donald Trump signed the “Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production” executive order that puts the weight of the federal government behind reducing the United States’ heavy reliance on mineral imports.
“Our national and economic security are now acutely threatened by our reliance upon hostile foreign powers’ mineral production,” the executive order reads.
To reverse this heavy reliance on mineral imports, the presidential directive focuses largely on streamlining mine permitting and unlocking federal and private sector funding to support domestic mine projects enriched with critical minerals, copper, gold, uranium, and other mined commodities deemed essential to the nation’s economy and energy future.
Alaska, which happens to host 49 out of the 50 U.S. critical minerals and some of the nation’s richest deposits of copper and gold, stands to benefit from Trump’s push for increased domestic minerals production and his overall vision of unleashing Alaska’s extraordinary resource potential.
Combined, the executive orders and other measures fulfill a promise made by Trump just two days after being elected to his second term in the Oval Office.
“During my second term, we will continue the fight for Alaska like never before,” he said during a Nov. 8 address to Alaskans. “We will maximize Alaska’s mining potential.”
Unblocking the Ambler Road
One of the ways Trump plans to maximize Alaska’s mining potential is to reverse actions taken by the Biden administration that delayed the development of a 211-mile road to the Amber Mining District, a region of Northwest Alaska rich in copper, zinc, gold, silver, cobalt, and other minerals critical to the U.S.
During Trump’s first term in office, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service issued a joint record of decision granting a right-of-way to build the Ambler Road across two relatively short segments of federal lands along the 211-mile route that would connect the Ambler Mining District to Alaska’s highway system. Under the Biden administration, however, BLM reversed its previously issued authorization.
The Biden administration’s denial of Ambler Road permits is considered a violation of a guarantee penned into the 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA).
“Congress finds that there is a need for access for surface transportation purposes across the Western (Kobuk River) unit of the Gates of the Arctic National Preserve (from the Ambler Mining District to the Alaska Pipeline Haul Road) and the Secretary shall permit such access in accordance with the provisions of this subsection.” –Section 201 (4) of ANILCA.
To circumvent the spirit of the law, the Biden administration BLM withdrew the right-of-way granted along a 20-mile-wide corridor of federally managed lands alongside the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Corridor and Dalton Highway.
The 20-mile strip of land used to prevent the development of the 211-mile Ambler Road was supposed to be transferred to Alaska years ago but has been tied up in withdrawals that prevent the transfer of ownership to the state.
During his March 20 announcement, Interior Secretary Burgman said BLM will revoke the withdrawals.
“This action would help pave the way forward for the proposed Ambler Road and the Alaska Liquified Natural Gas Pipeline project, two projects that stand to increase job opportunities and encourage Alaska’s economic growth,” the Interior Department stated.
Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse, chairman of Valhalla Metals, a mineral exploration and development company advancing a project alongside the proposed Ambler Road, said the actions announced by Burgman and the minerals executive order signed by Trump are great news unlocking the Ambler District’s vast mineral potential.
“As Alaskans know all too well, the Ambler Mining District was first identified as hosting important quantities of copper, zinc, silver, gold, cobalt and germanium in the 1960s,” he said. “It is high time that the federal government recognizes the importance of having a domestic supply of metals that are vital to our economy and our national defense, and is willing to take the actions necessary to achieve that objective.”
Despite the nation’s need for critical minerals and Alaska’s limited transportation infrastructure, the proposed Ambler Road will likely receive renewed opposition from conservation groups and others opposed to development across rural areas of the Far North State.
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by wp_sysadmin | Mar 26, 2025 | Home, News
Alaska wins lawsuit that could open Arctic refuge to oil exploration
James Brooks, Alaska Beacon, March 25, 2025
A federal judge has reversed a Biden administration decision that suspended oil leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
A federal judge in Anchorage has ruled in favor of Alaska’s state-owned investment bank in a lawsuit that could clear the way for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
In an order published Tuesday, Judge Sharon Gleason wrote that the U.S. Department of the Interior acted illegally when it canceled oil and gas leases held by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority on land within the refuge.
“Having reviewed the parties’ arguments, the court concludes that DOI was required to obtain a court order before canceling AIDEA’s leases,” Gleason said in her 22-page decision.
AIDEA did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Cori Mills, Alaska’s deputy attorney general, called the decision a victory.
“The state looks forward to working with the current federal administration on fully realizing the vast potential of ANWR to grow Alaska’s economy and help America’s energy independence,” she said by email. “It is unfortunate we have lost a significant amount of time litigating, instead of moving forward with field studies and development. We will continue to review the decision in more detail but it’s definitely a victory.”
Tuesday’s order was the result of a lawsuit filed by AIDEA against the federal government last year when the Biden administration canceled oil and gas leases that AIDEA won in a January 2021 sale.
Two other companies also won leases during the sale but later surrendered them to the federal government, leaving AIDEA as the only company holding leases within the refuge’s coastal plain, which is believed to hold significant oil and gas reserves, just as nearby state land does.
The Biden administration claimed that the sale — conducted under the auspices of the first Trump administration — was flawed and thus illegal.
It first suspended, then canceled the leases, prompting AIDEA to sue in 2024.
Gleason had upheld the Biden administration’s suspension order, but when it came to the cancellation, she ruled in AIDEA’s favor, citing a provision of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that enabled the ANWR leases.
That act said in part that the Interior Department “shall manage the oil and gas program on the Coastal Plain in a manner similar to the administration of lease sales under the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976.”
Gleason wrote: “Among the NPRPA’s implementing regulations is a regulation that provides that ‘(p)producing leases or leases known to contain valuable deposits of oil or gas may be canceled only by court order.’”
But the Interior Department didn’t obtain a court order, Gleason noted.
“Accordingly, federal defendants’ cancellation of AIDEA’s leases was not in accordance with law because it failed to seek a court order,” she wrote.
Several environmental and tribal groups sided with the federal government during the course of the lawsuit and had requested the ability to offer alternative solutions if Gleason ruled in favor of AIDEA.
She turned them down, writing, “DOI’s error is serious: DOI cancelled AIDEA’s leases without following the congressionally mandated procedure for doing so.”
In light of that finding, she vacated the department’s lease cancellation decision, saying the department — now back in the hands of the Trump administration — may decide what to do next.
In a statement released last week, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said he intends to open the refuge’s entire 1.56 million-acre coastal plain to development, indicating that AIDEA will be given a free hand on its leases.
For its part, AIDEA has said in multiple court filings that if allowed to proceed, it will conduct seismic testing and other preliminary work necessary to determine how much oil and gas lies within its leases.
Among the various environmental and tribal groups that stood with the federal government in opposition to AIDEA was the Gwich’in Steering Committee, represented by attorneys from Trustees for Alaska.
“This disappointing ruling ignores the destruction oil drilling will do to our communities and only deepens our resolve in fiercely defending the coastal plain from oil and gas extraction,” said Kristen Moreland, executive director of the Gwich’in Steering Committee. “We will always protect the caribou, our way of life, and future generations.”
The Native Village of Venetie Tribal Government, Arctic Village Council, and Venetie Village Council, represented by the Native American Rights Fund, said in a statement that they will continue to oppose drilling in ANWR and that “multiple legal and administrative pathways remain to ensure proper environmental review before any ground-disturbing activities could occur.”
by wp_sysadmin | Mar 24, 2025 | Home, News
Today’s Key Takeaways: DOI Secretary takes immediate action to expand resource development in Alaska. Taiwan to invest in AKLNG. Record gold prices impact Alaska mines. Green groups suffer big losses under President Trump.
OIL:
Interior Secretary Takes Steps to Unleash Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential
Washington, D.C. – Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is taking immediate steps to unleash Alaska’s untapped natural resource potential and support President Donald J. Trump’s vision of American Energy Dominance.
Under the Secretary’s leadership, the Bureau of Land Management will pursue steps to expand opportunities for exploration and development in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska and the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The BLM will also work towards partial revocation of public land withdrawals that will help solidify the path forward for the proposed Ambler Road and Alaska Liquified Natural Gas Pipeline projects.
“It’s time for the U.S. to embrace Alaska’s abundant and largely untapped resources as a pathway to prosperity for the nation, including Alaskans,” said Secretary Burgum. “For far too long, the federal government has created too many barriers to capitalizing on the state’s energy potential. Interior is committed to recognizing the central role the State of Alaska plays in meeting our nation’s energy needs, while providing tremendous economic opportunity for Alaskans.”
In this initial suite of actions to implement Executive Order 14153 and Secretary’s Order 3422, both titled “Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential,” the Interior and BLM will pursue:
- Reopening up to 82% of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska available to leasing and expanding energy development opportunities in the approximately 23-million-acre reserve. This plan would balance the Secretary’s responsibilities to provide for oil and gas leasing, exploration and development consistent with the energy needs of the nation and protect important surface resources in the reserve.
- Reinstating a program that makes the entire 1.56-million-acre Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge available for oil and gas leasing. This program would fulfill Congress’ intent in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and advance American Energy Dominance, while maintaining strong protections for important surface resources and uses in the Coastal Plain
- Revoking withdrawals along the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Corridor and Dalton Highway north of the Yukon River in order to convey these lands to State of Alaska. This action would help pave the way forward for the proposed Ambler Road and the Alaska Liquified Natural Gas Pipeline project, two projects that stand to increase job opportunities and encourage Alaska’s economic growth.
Earlier this year, President Trump committed to unlocking Alaska’s abundant supply of natural resources for the benefit of Alaskans and the nation, providing economic and national security for many generations to come. Through these actions and more to come, Interior is set to deliver on the President’s promise.
GAS:
Taiwan agrees to invest in major US LNG project
Robert Stewart, Upstream, March 20, 2025
Taiwan’s CPC Corporation will also broker an offtake deal with Trump-supported Alaska LNG development
Alaska LNG has struck a preliminary deal with Taiwan’s CPC Corporation for the state-owned company to invest in the US$44 billion US liquefied natural gas project, according to officials from one of the project’s developers.
Officials from Alaska and Taiwan signed a letter of intent Thursday for CPC to negotiate an LNG offtake deal in addition to the investment, the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC) said.
The letter was signed in Taipei by AGDC general manager Frank Richards and officials from CPC, according to a news release from Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs. Also in attendance were Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and officials from Glenfarne, which is co-developing the project with AGDC.
Officials said the partnership will help bolster Taiwan’s energy security while also promoting Taiwan’s cooperation with the US.
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te also threw his support behind the deal.
“Alaska is a source of high-quality natural gas. Its relatively short distance from Taiwan facilitates transportation. We are very interested in buying Alaskan natural gas because it can meet our needs and ensure our energy security,” he said in a video posted on social media by Alaska LNG.
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MINING:
Record gold prices could mean a banner year for Alaska mines • Alaska Beacon
Max Graham, Northern Journal, March 24, 2025
“Anyone with an operating gold mine is in a happy spot right now,” said one mining executive
A year ago, Alaska’s miners were selling gold at what seemed like a great price: around $2,200 per ounce. Today, that number sounds like a steal.
After a historic surge in value, gold is now selling at an all-time high: more than $3,000 an ounce, or an increase of some 35% since the beginning of 2024.
That’s great news for gold miners across the state, from Nome to Ketchikan — and for businesses of all sizes, from the multi-billion-dollar Kinross Gold Corp. to mom-and-pop placer operations.
Owing partly to the hot market, the value of gold produced statewide shot up more than 60% last year from the year before, according to a recent report in the trade publication North of 60 Mining News.
“We’re in uncharted territory. And we’ve gotten here very quickly,” said Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse, the chief executive of Contango Ore, a Fairbanks-based company developing several gold deposits in the state.
The staggering rise in gold’s value, driven by global economic uncertainty and a range of other factors, is translating into a windfall for Kinross and the other multinational companies that operate Alaska’s four major gold mines, which reported huge earnings last year.
The price of gold is the “largest single factor in determining profitability,” according to financial statements from Kinross, which owns the massive Fort Knox mine near Fairbanks and the smaller Manh Choh mine, in partnership with Contango, near the Interior town of Tok.
But it’s not just the billion-dollar companies that are benefitting: Gold’s surge also could buoy Alaska’s 150 or so placer operations.
Those smaller mining businesses use water to wash heavier gold out of sand and other sediments, often along creekbeds. They tend to be family-run and have smaller profit margins than the large corporations that own Alaska’s biggest hardrock mines — meaning that the rising prices make a big difference.
“It’s good for everyone. It’s good for the big mines, small mines,” said Click Bishop, a former state senator from Fairbanks who runs a placer mine in the Interior. “The biggest thing is: It makes a lot more marginal ground minable.”
When gold was selling for less, some lower-grade deposits weren’t worth mining, Bishop added. “But at $3,000, that’s a different story,” he said.
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POLITICS:
The Fossil Fuel Industry Gets Its Revenge on Green Activists – WSJBenoit Morene, The Wall Street Journal, March 20, 2025
Environmentalists reel under President Trump’s pro-fossil fuel and anti-climate actions, suffer big losses in court
The oil-and-gas industry is landing blow after blow against climate activists.
The Trump administration has cranked out approvals of major projects to ship liquefied natural gas from the Gulf Coast and killed a host of climate-related initiatives. Meanwhile, Texas billionaire Kelcy Warren has won a nearly $700 million verdict against Greenpeace that could spell the end of the group’s U.S. presence.
These are major setbacks for green groups. They have opposed new exports of U.S. natural gas, sought to stop new pipelines and asked the government to step up support of communities affected by climate change. The defeats herald the challenges that activists face as President Trump and his allies move to expand fossil fuels’ footprint here and abroad.
Trump has directed federal agencies to speed up permits for oil and gas infrastructure, a key demand of his oil and gas donors—including Warren, co-founder of pipeline giant Energy Transfer. The Trump team is also making deep cuts at the Environmental Protection Agency, which played a central role in the Biden administration’s rollout of climate policies.
Legal experts said that while green groups have dealt with previous administrations’ attempts to weaken environmental standards, they are facing an extraordinary challenge under Trump 2.0.
“What we’re seeing now is sort of this sense of the opportunity for revenge,” said Josh Galperin, an associate professor of law at Pace University.
Oil and gas executives who have seen their projects challenged by environmentalists and mired in lengthy permitting have applauded Trump’s actions.
“We’ve just kind of been the frog in the boiling pot, and it’s just gotten worse, and worse, and worse,” said Alan Armstrong, the chief executive of pipeline company Williams.
Green groups in recent years have become proficient at litigating against and protesting new pipelines, starting with Keystone XL. They have also opposed new LNG terminals on the Gulf Coast and last year notched a big victory when the Biden administration paused authorizations for new exports of U.S. natural gas.
Under Trump, their gains are rapidly unraveling.
The president on his first day in office lifted Biden’s pause on LNG exports. Energy Secretary and former oil chieftain Chris Wright has already granted permits to four LNG projects, including a conditional approval to Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass 2 terminal, known as CP2.
CP2 has been a test case for supporters and opponents of new natural-gas-export facilities. More than 230 climate groups and others urged Biden to reject the project, arguing that emissions linked to LNG produced there would equate to 20 times the annual emissions of ConocoPhillips’s Willow oil project in Alaska—a project Biden approved, to green groups’ dismay.
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by wp_sysadmin | Mar 19, 2025 | Home, News
Today’s Key Takeaways: Better than expected result for North Slope exploration. Alaska trade trip to Japan touting LNG. U.S. flooded with record copper shipments.
OIL:
APA Alaska partner discovers hydrocarbons on North Slope
Alex Procyk, Pipeline Oil & Gas Journal, March 18, 2025
Wireline logging is complete and additional data collection is under way, including core acquisition and flow testing to confirm permeability.
- Sockeye-2 encountered a Paleocene-aged reservoir on state land.
- Porosity and permeability are both better than expected.
APA Corp.’s operating partner in Alaska discovered hydrocarbons in the Sockeye-2 exploration well on the North Slope.
The Alaskan exploration partnership (APA 50%; Lagniappe Alaska, an Armstrong Oil & Gas subsidiary, 25%, operator; Santos Ltd., 25%) owns 325,000 gross acres on the North Slope of Alaska.
Sockeye-2 was drilled to a depth of about 10,500 ft and encountered a high-quality reservoir with about 25 ft of net oil pay in one blocky, Paleocene-aged sand with an average porosity of 20%. The porosity and permeability are both better than expected compared with recent regional field analogues in the Brookian play.
Wireline logging is complete and additional data collection is under way, including core acquisition and flow testing to confirm permeability.
“While net pay is not eye-popping, 20% porosity is a strong indicator that suggests potentially cost-effective reservoir drainage across a larger area that will need to be delineated,” said TD Cowen analysts in a note Mar. 17 following the announcement.
Additional zones of potential pay were also encountered in the shallower Staines Tongue formation.
The Sockeye prospect is amplitude supported across 25,000-30,000 acres, and confirms the partners’ geologic and geophysical models, derisking numerous additional prospects in the area, APA Corp. said in a Mar. 17 release.
Sockeye-2 is the second successful exploratory well drilled on a 325,411-acre state land position. The first well, King Street-1, was a new field discovery with oil in two separate Brookian Zones.
As part of its 2025 capital program, APA Corp. previously guided Alaska exploration capex at about $100 million with the intention to drill one well at Sockeye-2 and pursue further success, TD Cowen analysts noted.
GAS:
Alaskan officials to seek investors in Asia as Trump touts LNG
Katya Golubkova, Yuka Obayashi, Tim Kelly, Reuters, March 1, 2025
- Alaska wants investors for proposed $44 billion LNG pipeline
- Japanese firms have yet to commit to Alaska LNG project
- Trump’s Japan ambassador says he will pursue LNG commitment
Alaska’s governor and state representatives will visit Japan and three other Asian countries starting this week to court investors for a natural gas project that President Donald Trump says could pump trillions of dollars into the U.S., although Japanese energy firms remain sceptical.
Officials from the state-run Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC) and development partner Glenfarne Group will visit allied Asian countries “to update industry leaders on Alaska LNG’s economic and strategic competitive advantages, and discuss opportunities for participation”, said AGDC spokesperson Tim Fitzpatrick.
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Related: Trump Wants to Export More LNG to Asia via Alaska
MINING:
Tariff risk unleashes record copper shipments bound for US ports
Reuters, March 19, 2025
The US is about to be flooded with a massive wave of copper as a worldwide dash to front-run potential tariffs by US President Donald Trump comes to a head.
Between 100,000 and 150,000 metric tons of refined copper is expected to arrive in the US in the coming weeks, according to four people surveyed by Bloomberg with direct knowledge of some of the shipments. If the full volume arrives within the same month, it would surpass the all-time record of 136,951 tons set in January 2022.
Commodities traders including Trafigura Group, Glencore Plc and Gunvor Group are redirecting large volumes of metal earmarked for Asia to the US. The quantity is so big that traders are booking additional warehousing space in New Orleans and Baltimore to accommodate the shipments, some of the people said. The three firms declined to comment.
The surge of foreign copper into the US has widespread ramifications as it drains supplies in other markets including China, the top consuming nation. Copper prices in the US are at levels well above other overseas markets, giving American manufacturers a taste of the kind of cost inflation and supply-chain disruptions that may be triggered by a full-blown trade war.
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