AGIA

Point of Personal Privilege.  We mourn the loss and celebrate the life of our friend, mentor and sometimes protégé Frank Reed (NGP Photo).  More coming later today....  -dh

ADN by Flip Todd.  Frank Metcalf Reed, 99, who arrived as a babe-in-arms on the banks of Ship Creek in 1915, died Sunday, Jan. 22, at Providence Hospital after a sudden bout of pneumonia. He had probably lived in Anchorage longer than anyone, even serving his World War II enlistment as a naval liaison officer helping young seamen transiting the town on what is today Elmendorf Air Force Base.

ADN Op-Ed by Representatives Mike Chenault and Mike Hawker (NGP Photos-r).  We applaud Gov. Parnell for recognizing the potential for an Alaska gas pipeline project unlike any we have seen on the table, a hybrid of multiple plans committed Alaskans have worked on for many years. We believe this alignment -- of stakeholders, of goals, of work done to date -- is the elusive answer to Alaska gas.

We also commend the governor for acknowledging the tremendous value AGDC brings to this new, aligned process. Since the Legislature created AGDC almost two years ago, the organization has doggedly advanced an in-state line, delivering high-caliber work and meeting milestones laid out in a transparent, statutory framework. The momentum is strong.

ADN by Becky Bohrer.  Gov. Sean Parnell said Wednesday that he met for several hours with the chief executive of BP during the first leg of his European trip, touching on issues ranging from a natural gas pipeline to how Alaskans might benefit if oil taxes are cut.  Parnell said he told Bob Dudley he wants to get Alaska's gas to market as soon as possible. Last week Parnell told an oil and gas group that if the gas market has truly shifted from the Lower 48 to the Pacific Rim, he wanted the major North Slope players -- Exxon Mobil Corp., Conoco Phillips and BP -- to get behind a pipeline project that allows for liquefied natural gas exports to the Pacific Rim.

ADN Editorial.  Gov. Sean Parnell (NGP Stock Photo) has for the last few years counseled patience on the gas line development headed by TransCanada. Apparently his patience is running out. The governor now says he'd like to see the major North Slope producers -- Exxon Mobil, BP Alaska and Conoco Phillips -- join in a project to pipe Alaska's gas to Valdez, where it would be liquefied and shipped in tankers to Asian customers.

ADN by Becky Bohrer.  Gov. Sean Parnell is making his first state-sponsored trip overseas, meeting with the heads of major energy companies as he seeks to drum up more investment in Alaska.

Commonwealth North by Josh Wilson (NGP Photo).  Our next meeting is today, October 21 from 12-1 at ANGDA located at 411 West 4th Avenue in the Yellow Sunshine Mall on the lower level across from the Saturday Market parking lot. Commonwealth North’s Energy Action Coalition is hearing presentations from all the major natural gas projects and comparing them against common criteria. This week’s presenter will be Harold Heinze (NPG Photo), CEO, ANGDA, who will present the Alaska Pipeline Project proposal to bring North Slope natural gas to market, specifically focusing on two options; the North Slope to Valdez option and the spur line option (Main line NS-Alberta with a spur line to Valdez).

Last night, the federal coordinator's office for an Alaska North Slope natural gas pipeline sponsored a  public forum in Anchorage (and streamed live on the web) to discuss the state's options for assisting in gas line development. The panelists reviewed potential fiscal options that could help in developing an out-of-state and an in-state line, and how the state could benefit from looking at the two projects as a package.

This morning Alaska Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Dan Sullivan (NGP Stock Photo) briefed the Alaska Export Council in Anchorage on the Administration's strategy for increasing Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) throughput and managing gas pipeline development.

"I want to give you a very detailed view of Governor Sean Parnell's one-million-barrel-per-day-within-10-years-strategy," he said, "and what we are doing to implement it."

Sullivan began by reviewing the important direction Alaska's constitution gave public officials to "maximize" the development of natural resources.  He emphasized the huge resources available to the state and nation saying that only seventeen countries in the world have more land mass than Alaska.

He said, "The number one challenge facing the State is reversing the declining throughput in the trans alaska oil pipeline."  Sullivan noted that TAPS once transported 2.2 million barrels per day and provided over 20 percent of the nation's domestic supply.  He said that TAPS is still, "...one of the most important pieces of energy infrastructure in America," and that even in decline transports over 11% of the country's domestic oil supply. 

He said that the billions of barrels of oil and trillions of feet of natural gas and huge estimates of other resource reserves were world class and, "off the charts".  "We are still a very promising place to develop resources," he said.

Strategic direction the Administration is taking includes enhancing Alaska's global competitiveness and investment climate which is affected by remoteness to the markets, high overall costs--including some of the world's highest environmental standards.  To improve the investment climate, Sullivan said the Governor remains committed to oil tax reform.  "We think reforming the production tax and its progressivity feature will result in more investment not less."

As to reported increases in exploratory interest, Sullivan said that while companies are looking and exploring because Alaska has rich resources, that is no guarantee of future production.  "We compete globally for capital investment and that is a fact," he said.

Sullivan also explained the Administration's commitment to improve the efficiency and timiliness of  the permitting system, providing incentives and "new opportunities" for future phases of natural resource development (i.e. oil shale), and promoting partnerships with the federal government.  

Sullivan said that a dramatically changing economic market, such as that which the advent of an dramatically expanding gas shale industry has provided, means Alaska should approach the gas pipeline issue with "humility and flexibility".