Questioning the Value of the Gas Pipeline Open Seasons.... Questioning the Probability of Alaska's Economic Savior: OCS.... Hensley Questions Pipeline Survival In Wake of Palin Departure

 The Alaska Standard, By Alex Gimarc.  Shortly after taking office, the Obama administration...put a six-month halt on oil and natural gas exploration off the Alaska coast. The most prominent location was the Chukchi Sea, which held a federal lease sale in early 2008, bringing lease revenues worth $2.1 billion to the US Treasury. The Chukchi Sea alone is thought to hold reserves of over 15 billion barrels of oil and over 77 trillion cubic feet of natural gas – or the equivalent of what was thought to reside in Prudhoe Bay. It is also about the amount of oil and natural gas removed from the Gulf of Mexico since the late 1940s.  (See  ISER's OCS Economic Study.   Also, note our Richmond, Va. Times-Dispatch Op-ed.  -dh)      

  KTVA, by Christina Grande.  "They are both going to have an open season, it is just that neither open season is going to be a bonified open season," said Rep. Jay Ramras (NGP Photo). Ramras says while open season will go as far as producers' giving the gas, what comes after that is where the doors close. "The magic word is 'but'. 'But' the transaction needs to meet these specific conditions, conditions A,B,C,D and E, and the state is not going to be in a position to satisfy A,B,C,D and E next summer," said Ramras.    Some of those conditions include what has been at the center of the gas line debate, including fiscal terms and taxes.  "I think it is certainly understood, those that are closest to this say that it will not be a successful open season. None of the producers are anticipating it, nor is Trans Canada or the Denali team members anticipating it will be a successful open season," said Ramras.     *     Solve Climate.  The U.S. State Department approved a controversial pipeline project today that, once built, will carry tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada, into the northern United States.      *       Tundra Drums by Willie Hensley.  The Inuit have a word, “qivit,” that you do not want to have applied to you. It means to quit or give up when the going gets rough. In traditional times, and that was very recent, if you gave up as a leader you were jeopardizing yourself and everyone around you. It takes a lot of effort to maintain life in the bitter cold of the Arctic.  ... The great hope during the Palin administration was that a natural gas pipeline from Prudhoe Bay to the Lower 48 would be built, creating tens of thousands of jobs and providing revenue to help fill the fiscal gap that will come sooner than later. In spite of much political motion, years have gone by with no commitment to build a pipeline. In the meantime, the global economy has soured and other parts of the world are filling the energy gap. The window of opportunity may have closed.