“Enormous, resource-rich areas. Erratic fiscal policy. Government seemingly unwilling to initiate meaningful reforms,” Reed said. “How is that different from Maduro’s policies — where he wants it, and he just takes it?” Ashley Reed comparing Alaska to Venezuela
Hilcorp chairman: We’re going to Venezuela
Two big players in Alaska’s oil industry say they’re keen on investing in post-Maduro Venezuela.
Two titans of Alaska’s oil industry both told President Donald Trump on Friday that they intend to expand into post-Maduro Venezuela.
The public comments, Alaska-based oil industry players said, raise questions about how new drilling opportunities in the South American country could create competition for investment in Alaska’s petroleum-based economy.
Texas-based Hilcorp operates Alaska’s largest oil deposit, Prudhoe Bay, where it’s ramped up investment in recent years after buying its stake in the field from oil giant BP. It also produces the vast majority of natural gas that urban Alaskans use for heat.
Hilcorp’s chairman, Jeff Hildebrand, participated in the White House meeting, which Trump convened with oil executives to discuss opportunities in Venezuela. He told the president that “Hilcorp is fully committed and ready to go, to rebuild the infrastructure in Venezuela.”
“You’ll go there? You’ll be going?” Trump asked.
“Yes,” Hildebrand said.
“Good, that’s good. You’ll be very happy,” Trump said.
“Fish, Family and Freedom” returns to AK Senate Race
Democrats put Alaska Senate seat in play as Peltola joins race
Ann Edgerton, Steven Dennis, The Detroit News, January 12, 2026
Former Alaska Representative Mary Peltola launched a campaign Monday to challenge Republican Dan Sullivan for one of Alaska’s Senate seats, putting the race in play for Democrats in November’s midterms.
“Systemic change is the only way to bring down grocery costs, save our fisheries, lower energy prices and build new housing Alaskans can afford,” Peltola said in a video announcing her candidacy. “No one from the Lower 48 is coming to save us, but I know this in my bones, there is no group of people more ready to save ourselves than Alaskans.”
Peltola held Alaska’s sole House seat until narrowly losing to a Republican in 2024. Democrats for months tried to recruit Peltola, who was also considering a bid for governor.
Free gravel could save large projects in Alaska millions of dollars in costs.
Alaska offers free rocks and dirt, helping big state-backed construction projects
James Brooks, Alaska Beacon, January 9th, 2026
The proposed Ambler Road and the Alaska natural gas pipeline could benefit from a change in state regulations that would save them millions in costs
The state of Alaska is preparing to give away millions of dollars’ worth of gravel to public corporations, a move that would amount to millions of dollars in assistance to some of the state’s biggest construction projects.
According to a Q&A posted by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, the beneficiaries could include the proposed Ambler Access Project and the proposed trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline.
The state’s plans were disclosed the day before Thanksgiving in a public notice stating that DNR is planning “regulation changes on material sales and conveyances to state agencies.”
The Department of Natural Resources oversees mining on state lands in Alaska, including the extraction of gravel and fill dirt for use in construction.
While humble, gravel can be serious business — in November, DNR commissioner-designee John Crowther signed an order that prohibits gold, silver and other kinds of mining near gravel quarries along the Dalton Highway, which links Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay.
For state maintenance crews that need to keep the highway open, gravel is more important than rare minerals.
In 2024, High Country News reported that for construction projects on the North Slope, gravel is a “precious commodity” because of its scarcity.
One of DNR’s proposed changes to its gravel rules declares “that the department convey material to a state agency or public corporation at a base price of $0.00 per cubic yard and without retaining a reversionary interest.”
“This dangerous and illegal mining ban was thrust upon my constituents and our way of life in Northern Minnesota and put our nation’s mineral security in jeopardy,”
Trump administration moves to reverse mining ban near Boundary Waters
Dan Kraker, Minnesota News, January 11, 2026
The Trump administration and northeast Minnesota Republican Congressman Pete Stauber are taking action to end a 20-year mining ban near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area that was imposed three years ago under former President Joe Biden.
The move could pave the way for Twin Metals Minnesota, which is a subsidiary of the giant Chilean mining firm Antofagasta, to re-apply for state and federal permits to open a proposed underground mine for copper, nickel and other metals outside Ely and just a few miles south of the federally protected wilderness area.
The action, first reported by Reuters, appears to be based on a procedural oversight by the Biden administration.
The 20-year moratorium imposed under the Biden administration bans mining activity over about 350 square miles of federal land in the Superior National Forest south of the Boundary Waters but within the same watershed as the wilderness.
Such “mineral withdrawals,” as they’re known, are allowed under the 40-year-old Federal Land Policy and Management Act, or FLPMA.
Under the law, the Secretary of the Interior is required to notify Congress of such a withdrawal — a step Stauber’s office says the Biden administration failed to take.