OIL
From the Oil & Energy Insider, OilPrice.Com, May 15, 2020:
Oil prices appear to be rising relentlessly, with WTI bouncing above $28 per barrel, nearly at a two-month high. Market sentiment has been gaining steam as supply shut-ins mount and demand begins to come back. Still, the risk of another wave of coronavirus infections presents a major risk to the rally. Reasons for the Rally:
- OPEC+ could keep cuts beyond June
- Analysts see optimism in data
- Saudi oil “flotilla” delayed at ports
- Storage fears subside
- Iraq cuts 650,000 barrels per day from southern fields
GAS
PODs approved for 3 small inlet gas fields
Kristin Nelson, Petroleum News, May 17, 2020
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Oil and Gas has approved the annual plans of development filed by operator Hilcorp Alaska for three small Cook Inlet natural gas units: Ivan River, Lewis River and Pretty Creek.
MINING
Pebble mine could bolster Alaska economy
Shane Lasley, North of 60 Mining News, May 14, 2020
Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. said its Pebble project could provide another source of jobs and revenue to an Alaska economy challenged by an interrelated combination of COVID-19 and low oil prices. Though fewer than 400 cases of COVID-19 have been diagnosed in Alaska, placing it among the lowest states in the country on an absolute and per capita basis, the economic impact of the global pandemic on the largest of the United States is both severe and ongoing.
A mine developed at the world-class Pebble project is expected to support as many as 1,000 full-time, direct jobs during mine operations, with average annual wages and benefits topping $100,000. In addition, a Pebble mine would generate more than $400 million in in-state expenditures and support up to 2,000 indirect jobs in the broader Alaska economy. Because it is located on Alaska mining claims, an operating Pebble mine is also expected to contribute some $66 million annually to state government coffers – including contributions to Alaska’s Permanent Fund.
POLITICS
Logan: Policy matters more now with industry job losses
Kristen Nelson, Petroleum News, May 17, 2020
In testimony before the House Resources Committee May 8, Rebecca Logan, general manager of The Alaska Support Industry Alliance, closed with advice to Alaska legislators on the one thing she says can be controlled in the current environment: State policy. For Alliance members to get back to work, she told the committee, oil and gas field operators need to have an oil price that allows “delayed projects to get back on track. … We have no control over price. We have no control over the pandemic. So, policy really matters now.”