A durable fiscal system must balance revenue with global competitiveness. If policy discourages development, there is nothing left to tax, and you cannot tax what is not produced.
Alaska’s future depends on jobs, investment and getting oil policy right
Steve Wackowski, Rebecca Logan, Anchorage Daily News, April 13,2026
Alaskans deserve an honest conversation about oil and gas — one grounded in facts, not caricatures.
In a recent opinion piece, “Oil companies always tell us the same tired tale. And we fall for it,” Bob Shavelson claims that when industry warns about the impacts of tax policy, it’s just a “tired tale” designed to scare Alaskans. That assertion is easy to make — but it ignores both Alaska’s history and the economic reality facing our state today.
Because this isn’t about rhetoric. It’s about jobs.
Alaska’s oil and gas industry supports more than 70,000 jobs and $6.6 billion in annual wages, according to the McKinley Research Group. These are not abstract “corporate profits.” They are paychecks for welders, mechanics, engineers, truck drivers and small-business owners across Alaska. Entire communities throughout Alaska depend on this activity.
So, when tax policy is debated, the stakes are not corporate, they are personal.
This is especially true in Cook Inlet, where private investment has helped sustain Southcentral Alaska’s energy supply. When Hilcorp entered the basin in 2012, it did so as others were exiting, and production was declining. Since then, significant private capital has been reinvested to stabilize gas supply for Alaska homes and businesses. More recently, operators like HEX — which doubled its gas production in 2025 — and Glacier have further strengthened that effort, bringing more Southcentral energy online and highlighting exactly the kind of investment Alaska should be encouraging.
The commentary suggests that warnings about investment leaving Alaska are exaggerated or dishonest. But Alaska has already lived through that reality. Under prior tax regimes, investment declined, and production dropped sharply. Capital and the companies behind it didn’t vanish overnight — but over time, it moved elsewhere. Alaskans only need to look to the southeast corner of Benson and the Seward Highway in Anchorage for a stark reminder of that.