Oil
What
an oil industry wants
Kelsey Tamborrino, Politico, March 11, 2020
THE ASKS: The oil industry is offering up a list of ideas to President Donald Trump it says will help them weather the current market onslaught, sources said. This includes buying crude oil off the market to put into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, offering low-interest loans, speeding up drilling permits on federal land and lowering the royalty rate on oil and gas produced on public lands. The asks are coming from smaller, independent companies who make up the bulk of industry and went into the market crisis already heavy with debt and shaky finances. They’ve made their case to Trump with a warning that layoffs could start soon, said Dan Eberhart, president of Canary Energy. “The number of Covid-19 cases rising and the stock market dropping are what’s keeping Trump up at night,” Eberhart told ME. “What should be keeping him up is the avalanche of bad economic data that will begin showing up in about a month.”
Marathon
dials back activity, Trims 2020 budget
Bertie Melinda Taylor, Rigzone, March 11, 2020
Both large and small oil and gas companies continue to pivot in response to chaotic market conditions. Marathon Oil is one of the latest to reveal an immediate spending reduction of at least $500 million related to its 2020 capital budget of $2.4 billion. The revised budget of $1.9 billion or less is a 30 percent reduction in comparison to actual 2019 capital spending. The 2020 budget reduction will include:
- Suspending further resource play exploration drilling and leasing activity
- Immediately suspending all operated drilling and completion activity in Oklahoma, where Marathon is running three rigs and one frac crew;
- Reducing operated drilling and completion activity in the Northern Delaware, where the company is running four rigs and one frac crew;
- Optimizing development programs in the Eagle Ford and Bakken, where the company is running eight rigs and three frac crews.
Gas
U.S. natural gas production increased by 10% in 2019
U.S. Energy Information Administration
U.S. natural gas production grew by 9.8 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2019, a 10% increase from 2018. The increase was slightly less than the 2018 annual increase of 10.5 Bcf/d. U.S. natural gas production measured as gross withdrawals (the most comprehensive measure of natural gas production) averaged 111.5 Bcf/d in 2019, the highest volume on record, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Monthly Crude Oil and Natural Gas Production Report. U.S. natural gas production, when measured as marketed natural gas production and dry natural gas production, also reached new highs at 99.2 Bcf/d and 92.2 Bcf/d, respectively.
Mining
Rig
heads to 64North for winter drilling
Shane Lasley, North of 60 Mining News, March 6, 2020
Millrock Resources Inc. March 2 reported that a camp and drill rig are being mobilized to support the upcoming drill program at 64North, a gold exploration project that is just west of the Northern Star Resources Ltd.’s Pogo Mine. 64North includes nine claim blocks – West Pogo, Shaw, Eagle, LMS-X, South Pogo, East Pogo, North Pogo, Last Chance and Divide – covering roughly 160,000 acres in the Goodpaster District, a gold-rich area anchored by Northern Star Resources Ltd.’s Pogo Mine.
Politics
Lawmakers
crafting plan to end session soon if coronavirus comes to Juneau
Andrew Kitchenman, KTOO and Alaska Public Media, March 10, 2020
Lawmakers are considering ending the session soon if the coronavirus arrives in Juneau. The Legislative Council formed an emergency response preparedness subcommittee Tuesday that would develop a plan for an early adjournment of the session. Kodiak Republican Sen. Gary Stevens, the council chair, said the plan could include the possibility of closing the Capitol to the public, or allowing lawmakers to vote by phone. “The goal is to be prepared to respond should the coronavirus arrive here in Alaska and in Juneau particularly,” Stevens said. Stevens said there are a limited number of votes that must occur before adjournment. “We’ve got to pass a budget. That’s the one requirement in the constitution,” he said. “And the second requirement is — or not necessarily a requirement, but a responsibility — is to make sure that we confirm the governor’s appointments or not.”
Election
reform ballot measure clears signature hurdle as Alaska lawmakers voice
skepticism
James Brooks, Anchorage Daily News, March 10, 2020
The Alaska Division of Elections said late Monday that a ballot measure seeking to install ranked-choice voting in Alaska has collected enough signatures to appear before voters this fall. In a hearing Tuesday morning, several state lawmakers said they are skeptical of the proposal. Senate President Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage, said she worries the plan could confuse and thus disenfranchise older voters. “My concern is that the people who will be most likely disenfranchised will be the elderly who have most likely … always voted the normal way,” she said. Shea Siegert, campaign manager for Alaskans for Better Elections, the group backing the measure, said the Division of Elections would be required to conduct an education campaign in the two years before the first election under the new system. Sen. Natasha von Imhof, R-Anchorage, also questioned whether Alaskans for Better Elections is following campaign disclosure rules it is proposing to require. So far, the answer is yes. Outside groups including Represent.Us and Unite America have spent more than $1 million to date to support the measure. Individual contributors to those groups have been disclosed in filings with the Federal Elections Commission.