June 2009

TransCanada Briefs Alaska Black Chamber of Commerce

30 June 2009 11:00pm

Special Report. Yesterday, the Alaska Black Chamber of Commerce met at the Westmark Anchorage Hotel to hear TransCanada spokesman Tony Palmer (NGP Photo) brief guests on the new partnership with ExxonMobil. Palmer also announced the addition of a Point Thomson pipeline to the project and verification that the ‘open season’ process for filling pipeline capacity would begin next January and finish in July 2010. Palmer said today that following ExxonMobil’s addition, spending through next July would be increased to $150 million. He then described long term employment and contracting opportunities for Alaska businesses. ABCC President, Marilyn Stewart - Richardson (NGP Photo) closed with an observation that, “We will be watching progress of the project closely.” * ADN by Erika Bolstad. There are market forces, state and national politics and a host of environmental and regulatory hurdles -- some 22 federal agencies in the United States alone must sign off on an environmental impact statement before the project can move forward. One small federal agency, the Office of the Federal Coordinator, is overseeing the effort. The office, headed by Drue Pearce (NGP Photo), an Alaskan who is based in Washington, D.C., has nine employees. * Solve Climate by Abby Schultz. Where the natural gas from the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline will end up is a murky question tied up in a 30-year-old treaty, expansion of Canadian tar sands operations, and trends in natural gas supplies both in the United States and in Canada. Environmentalists fear at least half of the relatively clean-burning Alaskan North Slope gas will end up fueling tar sands operations in Alberta, where the pipeline will end, instead of coming to the lower 48 states to replace carbon-intensive coal in power plants. The tar sands operations already consume about 20 percent of Canada’s natural gas, and they are expected to need as much as twice that by 2035. Michael Brune of the Rainforest Action Network calls the pipeline "a stealth dirty oil mega-project … conceived by Big Oil.” (add more......................... * Texas for Sarah Palin Blog re: Drue Pearce Story.

U.S. Senator Mark Begich and Shell Exploration EVP David Lawrence Tackle Arctic Policy Issues

30 June 2009 11:00pm

See Dave Harbour's Alaska Standard Op-ed about Senator Begich's proposed ARCAC

Dave Harbour’s article on ... proposed Arctic Regional Citizens Advisory Council prompted me to take a deeper look at his so-called five Arctic Climate Change Initiatives. -Alex Gimarc

Commentary: Yesterday, the Resource Development Council for Alaska held its annual luncheon. (Watch here for a coming audio link.) I'm guessing that 800 people filled that 600 person Howard Rock Ballroom at the Sheraton. Having forgotten to make a reservation, to my delight Brad Keithley, a friend and attorney, called to say he had an extra seat at his table. What a pleasure it was to be there, too. My kind of people. Hard working entrepreneurs, business folks who realized where real wealth comes from: not from subsidies, grants, donations and taxes on others. RDC President Rick Rogers first introduced Senator Mark Begich (NGP Photo-l) who proficiently discussed his Alaska natural resources agenda. He also referred to a, "letter to the editor" connected with his remarks on OCS and an upcoming visit of Senators led by Barbara Boxer. I was pleased that the Daily News had teed up the issue of a proposed "Arctic Citizens Advisory Council" with its readers in its Sunday Editorial, and followed that with my Op-ed piece on the same subject yesterday morning. I'm pretty sure that nearly all 800 attendees had read both Senator Begich's Yin and my Yang. Many came to me expressing appreciation for my position. I won't go into details about the 5 minute exchange Senator Begich, his Chief of Staff David Ramseur (NGP Photo-l below) and I shared afterward, because it was personal and not completely relevant. The bottom line is that, 1) I would not change the Op-ed piece I wrote, except for a devious little typo, and 2) we agreed to stay in touch on this and other issues and I don't expect the good relationship we've shared for over 20 years to suffer from yet another policy disagreement between us. Here are some other highlights of his presentation: 1) energy bill: "Senator Murkowski worked hard to make sure it contained some Alaska provisions." 2) environment: "There is no question that Alaska sees the impact of climate change; Alaska is 'ground zero' from that perspective". 3) On upcoming visit of his colleague Senators: "What we have to do is get the Senators up here. They nay not be in line with us on ANWR," but he emphasized that they could be on other issues. "As these Senators come to Alaska," he said, "I'm going to need your help," again referring to a 'letter to the editor'. 4. Gas Pipeline. "I'm very pleased to see TransCanada and ExxonMobil getting together as well as the Denali progress. You'll hear talk a lot about gas in the Senate because I want that to be the agenda." The Keynote Speaker, David Lawrence (NGP Photo-r above) Exploration EVP of Royal Dutch Shell, gave perhaps the best oil industry, corporate-level speech I've heard in the last 10 years over multiple Federal and State venues. Lawrence announced the company would be building an icebreaker for Shell's Arctic work and introduced the builder, Gary Chouest (NGP Photo-r), who delivered a personal appraisal of the oil industry's impact on Louisiana--from a shrimp fishing family and business perspectives. Back to Lawrence's comments. They are important for the candor and Alaska investment and the raw courage they represent in today's climate of politically orchestrated sound bites. I think our NGP readers will find these highlights motivating if not inspiring: 1) Alaska's responsibility and opportunity: "The role Alaska has played and the role Alaska WILL play on resource development and the future of energy is unquestionably larger than any other state, and frankly most countries. So, yours is an enviable place in the world". 2) Alaska's Choices. "It is not a question of oil and gas versus renewables, or renewables versus biofuels, or biofuels versus oil and gas. It is not a matter of OR at all. It’s a matter of AND – we need all of the above." 3) Alaska's relationship with renewables. "Optimistically, we believe renewables could provide around 30% of the world’s energy by the middle of this century, up from 3% today. But where will the other 60- 70% come from? Places like Alaska, we hope. Why – because the resource base is huge – another potential Gulf of Mexico scale resource...." 4) Alaska is 'Ground Zero'. "Unfortunately, Alaska, particularly the offshore, is ground-zero in the misguided effort to put us in an ‘”either / or world “ - where fossil fuels play no role in the bridge to an energy future. For economic progress, revenue generation, jobs, energy security AND protecting our environment, it all needs to come together – oil and gas, renewables, biofuels, CO2 management – a world of AND." 5) On environmental opposition.

Senator Begich Wants To Create Another Bureaucracy for Arctic Oil and Gas

28 June 2009 11:00pm

6-28-09. ADN Editorial. U.S. Sen. Mark Begich (NGP Photo-l) wants to give Alaska's Arctic residents a formal way to offer their advice and perspective on decisions affecting the region. ... His idea (PDF Of Last Week's Draft Here) is modeled on the successful citizens' advisory council set up in the early 1990s for Prince William Sound after the Exxon Valdez oil spill. That council is a well-funded watchdog, keeping an eye on the oil pipeline and tanker operations to help avoid a repeat disaster. Ideally, the Arctic citizens' council would speak to a broad range of issues, not just oil development. (Yes, we have comments on this proposal and will provide them tomorrow. -dh) Alaska Gas Pipeline Blog. In a nut shell: You can't invest $40 Billion in a long term project with variable or random taxes. * Today, TransCanada executive Tony Palmer (NGP Photo) will discuss his project at a meeting sponsored by the Alaska Black Chamber of Commerce.