OIL
Norway Eases Oil and Gas Tax Requirements
The Maritime Executive, May 2, 2020
The Government is proposing temporary amendments to the petroleum tax system that, in practice, will mean that tax bills are postponed. Oil and gas companies will be allowed to deduct investments, including uplift, from the special tax base immediately. Uplift will be reduced from 5.2 percent for each of the first four years to 10 percent for the first year only. This will apply to investment costs the companies incur in 2020 and 2021 and to investments included in plans for new developments that are submitted by the end of 2021 and approved by the end of 2022, and until production starts. The companies will be able to have the tax value of losses in the income years 2020 and 2021 refunded. The liquidity effect of the changes is anticipated to free up as much as NOK 100 billion ($10 billion) for investments in 2020 and 2021.
GAS
Hilcorp
Will Begin Geohazard Site Clearance Study This Summer In The Cook Inlet
Jennifer Williams, KSRM, May 4,2020
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued a permit to Hilcorp Alaska LLC to conduct a geohazards survey in the Cook Inlet. The area to be surveyed is in lower Cook Inlet, west to southwest of Kachemak Bay. In June 2017, Hilcorp acquired 14 Outer Continental Shelf leases from Lease Sale 244. In the fall of 2019, Hilcorp conducted an exploration seismic survey over several of these leases. The company now proposes to conduct a geohazard site clearance survey over these leases and the surrounding area, comprising approximately 228 square kilometers. This survey is required by BOEM prior to consideration of any further exploration activities and is used to identify seafloor obstructions, shallow drilling hazards, and archaeological resources.
MINING
Alaska’s
Economy Tipping Toward Mining
Shane Lasley, North of 60 Mining News, May 2, 2020
The price of oil and gold heading in opposite directions in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic could mark a tipping point that steers Alaska’s economy on a new trajectory more rapidly than policymakers and prognosticators previously envisioned.
POLITICS
Republicans
plan response to banks exit from Arctic
Kelsey Tamborrino, Politico, May 4, 2020
REPUBLICANS’ COUNTERATTACK: Two GOP senators tell POLITICO a group of congressional Republicans are planning to launch their own pressure campaign against large U.S. banks for refusing financial support for Arctic oil drilling projects, Pro’s Anthony Adragna reports this morning. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) said the Republicans will send a letter to the banks, warning them that ruling out specific fossil fuel projects, such as oil drilling in the newly opened Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, comes with risks. The letter follows pledges in recent months by Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup that they would not invest in Arctic drilling projects, amid pressure to address climate change and protect sensitive lands. Bank of America is the sole major holdout.
Former Murkowski aide joins Carbon Dividends Group
COVID 19
COVID-19 Response Fund (CRF) Distribution in Alaska