Today’s Key Takeaways: Conoco’s proprietary well data to remain off limits to competitors. De Facto ban on gas powered cars and trucks. Doyon land shows strong signs of near-surface gold. Getting to know Rep. Peltola’s top, tall, guy.
OIL:
Judge rules ConocoPhillips can keep Willow oil well data confidential
Riley Rogerson, Anchorage Daily News, July 6, 2023
In a win for ConocoPhillips, a federal judge has allowed the company to keepoil well data from its largeWillow discovery from competitors.
ConocoPhillips sued in May 2022 to prevent the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission from releasing data from five National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska exploration wells drilled in 2018. The company argued that because Willow is located in the NPR-A, it is subject to federal law, which does not require well data to be made public during the duration of a lease. Alaska state law requires the release of well data after two years.
The Willow oil project has drawn national attention, especially in the lead-up to the Interior Department earlier this year greenlighting development on the massive and controversial discovery.
GAS:
API: EPA Proposal a De Facto Ban on Gasoline Powered Cars and Trucks
American Petroleum Institute, July 5, 2023
The American Petroleum Institute (API) today urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reverse course on its proposal for new tailpipe emissions standards for light-duty and medium-duty vehicles, which amount to a de facto ban on vehicles using gasoline and other liquid fuels that would drastically reduce American families’ freedom to choose a car or truck that best fits their needs and budget.
“We share the goal of reducing emissions across the transportation sector while ensuring continued reliability and affordability options for millions of Americans,” API President and CEO Mike Sommers said. “We support technology-neutral federal policies that drive greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions in the transportation sector, but this proposal seriously misses the mark. While not an explicit ban on internal combustion engines, this proposal is a de facto ban that will eliminate competition, distort the market, and restrict consumer choice, while being potentially more costly to taxpayers. API will keep all options on the table to protect American families and businesses if the agency moves forward with this ban.”
In comments submitted to the EPA, API outlined major concerns with several aspects of the proposed rule, including its heavy reliance on electric vehicles to achieve compliance. While battery technology has improved in recent years, the proposed rule ignores the significant infrastructure, consumer acceptance, and supply chain challenges that remain. In addition EPA’s narrow focus on a singular technology risks undermining U.S. energy security by forcing a greater reliance on foreign sources for raw materials and critical minerals.
API highlighted better ways to accomplish the agency’s goal of reducing emissions while preserving consumer choice in accessing affordable and reliable transportation options.
“EPA has largely ignored fuel and vehicle-based options that could better accomplish the agency’s objectives to expeditiously achieve greater transportation sector-related emission reductions from the entire vehicle fleet (both new and in-use) at lower cost,” Sommers said. “Meaningful carbon emission reductions are achievable sooner, and potentially at lower cost, via the use of proven and available technology in liquid fuels.”
Click here to view API’s comments.
MINING:
Felix strikes gold at NW Array target
Shane Lasley, North of 60 Mining News, July 3, 2023
Felix Gold Ltd. July 3 reported that initial assay results from the 2023 program at Treasure Creek show that the drilling is beginning to define a trend of strong near-surface gold mineralization at NW Array, the initial exploration target on this property about 20 miles north of Fairbanks, Alaska.
In May, Felix launched a drill program that was slated to involve 3,500 meters of drilling in 30 to 40 reverse circulation holes focused on establishing a near-surface resource at the NW Array target. Felix’s Alaska team exceeded expectations with 4,278 meters of drilling in 45 holes.
“Our team has again excelled in the field, delivering more holes and metres than planned,” said Felix Managing Director and CEO Anthony Reilly.
POLITICS:
Anton McParland: The backstory of the tall guy behind Mary Peltola
Liz Ruskin, Alaska Public Media, July 6, 2023
Look at photos of Mary Peltola during her campaign for Congress last year and you’ll often see a tall fellow with a dark, bushy beard at her side. That’s Anton McParland. He was Peltola’s campaign manager. He’s now also her chief of staff.
At Peltola’s congressional office in Washington, D.C., McParland’s vibe is more camp counselor than boss. He jokes with the staff about how they might get away with a party on the flat roof outside their office window. He giggles.
“Sorry. I’m in a little bit of a post-lunch like stupor,” he said. “I don’t often eat food during the day … It makes me sleepy.”
McParland, 35, soldiers on. He is 35, 6 feet, 4 inches tall and thin. He projects a wide-eyed presence that’s equal parts yogi and curious pre-schooler.
He’s in an unique position: As both the chief of Peltola’s congressional staff and the person running her campaign, no one has more opportunity to set the agenda for Alaska’s sole member of the U.S. House. And yet he was unknown in Alaska, and to Peltola, before last year.
Now, he considers her “one of my best friends in life.”
“We spent 80% of the campaign, like, traveling between events or on planes making stupid jokes to each other,” McParland said. “We mesh really well.”
McParland joined Peltola’s campaign a few weeks before the August special general election and was at her side. It was an unusual employment choice for both of them. Peltola needed to show that she could appeal to Alaska moderates and not turn off Republicans. McParland had no prior connection to Alaska. He’d just run a campaign in Illinois of a further-left Democrat who lost in the primary.
But McParland answered Peltola’s help-wanted posting, and he had a valuable attribute: union experience.
That was key for Peltola because she had a big fence to mend. As a state legislator in 2005, Peltola had voted to gut teacher retirement. She says it was the worst vote she made and she strives to make up for it.
McParland had worked on union campaigns in Oregon and Nevada.
“She wanted someone that was comfortable with labor, that spoke labor, that could earnestly have those conversations with the community,” he said. “I think that’s kind of like the story that we told ourselves.”
The truth is, he says, they just like each other, from the first Zoom interview.
Peltola admires his work ethic, his ability to have “100 things going at once,” and says they think alike.
“We can read each other’s mind. Yeah, that helps,” she said. “And I think we both really like people and enjoy this work and find the humor in every situation.”