See Governor Parnell's speech here, soon.     *      Governor Lauds 9th Circuit ruling on the Beaufort Sea 2007 oil and gas lease sale....   *     ADN, BP wraps up Nikiski GTL project.  See our original, 2001reporting on the Nikiski project (NGP Photo: Shane O'Leary, BP's 2001 GTL program manager, Kenai GTL Project), and check out our GTL archives.     *     Richard Peterson (NGP 2001 Photo-r) for Alaska Standard: Is Gas To Liquids technology economic now?

The Alaska Standard posted our FERC story yesterday.    *     Petroleum News Alaska's Alan Baily reviews Southcentral gas shortage.     *      KTUU.  "Enstar has contracted for all of our gas through 2010 and we don't expect there will be a problem," Mark Slaughter said. "But we were very close last year with deliverability and unless things change, with more production, more development, more drilling going on, there may not be enough gas being produced on the cold days."  And those cold days could be much colder if natural gas supplies dip lower.  Chugach Electric Association sent out a press release Tuesday saying the Regulatory Commission of Alaska approved a gas supply contract between ConcoPhillips and Chugach Electric.     *    Reuters - The Canadian government needs to muster the political will to ensure the C$16.2 billion ($14.7 billion) Mackenzie Valley natural gas pipeline is built, the Northwest Territories energy minister said on Tuesday.     ADN.  Don't look for BP to restart production from its troublesome Badami oil field anytime soon. BP told the state that it will submit an application to suspend operations and production at Badami for another year, until Aug. 31, 2010, according to Petroleum News.     *     The Alaska Dispatch reviews the oil and gas market.    *     The Philadelphia Inquirer (9/2) reports, “Gov. Rendell has, for the second time in a month, dropped one of his tax proposals aimed at helping to close the state's multibillion-dollar budget deficit. Rendell said after meeting with industry officials that he would agree to delay his push to impose a tax on natural gas extracted from the Marcellus Shale. "It won't be in the mix this year," he said, adding that he would likely revive the proposal next year.     *      AFP (9/2) reports, “British energy giant BP has made a "giant" oil discovery in the Gulf of Mexico after drilling one of the industry's deepest-ever wells, it said Wednesday, in a further boost for crude supplies. "BP announced today a giant oil discovery at its Tiber Prospect (well) in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, " the company said in a statement. "The Tiber well was drilled to a total depth of approximately 35,055 feet (10,685 metres) making it one of the deepest wells ever drilled by the oil and gas industry," it added.

National Post, by Don Martin.  (Minister Jim Prentice, NGP Photo) is quick to stress that the park could not have been expanded without the partnership of the Deh Cho people, the same First Nation currently holding up the Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline to ensure their environmental concerns are resolved. "The Nahanni is the Deh Cho's gift to Canada and it is Canada's gift to humanity," says Mr. Prentice. "They were very determined negotiators and their primary concern was always protection of the Nahanni watershed." Former grand chief Jim Antoine (NGP Photo), a key player in the park's expansion who acted as our expedition's spiritual leader, believes the park's successful expansion talks will help settle outstanding land claims and 

environmental concerns. "It has been a very good partnership that has saved the watershed for my people and all Canadians," he says. "We hope this relationship will continue."

"Nahanni in 2009 is what Banff was in 1885," declares Parks Canada CEO Alan Latourelle. "A hundred years from now, people will look back at this expansion as Canadians and the Deh Cho partnering to create the jewel of our park system. "There's a sense of pride in the Nahanni, even though most Canadians will never visit it," he adds. "It's a real mystery to most, yet they feel a strong sense of attachment to the spirit of the place."

RIO DE JANEIRO -(Dow Jones), by Jeff Fick- Brazil's government is set to unveil a sweeping reform of regulations covering the oil and natural gas industries Monday, likely sparking a political fight that will reverberate for generations.     PNA by Alan Bailey (NGP Photo) Faced with the strong possibility of a shortfall in utility natural gas deliverability in the event of a severe cold snap in the coming Southcentral Alaska winter, gas and electric utilities around the region are completing a contingency plan, to try to avert the need for power cuts and to ensure that, if power cuts are required, the impact on power consumers is minimized.        *     UPI.  TransCanada and Denali are expected to file federal permits for their rival natural gas pipelines to the lower 48 by October 2012.  TransCanada and Denali, a joint venture between BP and ConocoPhillips, are competing to develop a natural gas pipeline from the Alaskan North Slope. TransCanada has state support for the project but lacks federal approval. Denali, for its part, is spending its own money to develop the pipeline.     *     Three points of personal privilege:  First, John Seawell (NGP Photo), passed away this week in Anchorage. A friend for nearly 40 years, and a generation ahead of me, he always took time to help the younger man trying to do well.  This photo of John and Sammye after a wonderful Thanksgiving 2008 dinner at Josephine’s in the Sheraton reflects very well the kind natures of this loving and dynamic duo. It was also a special dinner for Nancy, Billy and me at the next table with Mom (Bobbie Harbour), who passed away herself in February. Second, Nancy Harbour provided a great interview for Channel Two on the coming of Lion King.  Third, I briefly discussed oil industry tax policy with Dan Fagan and Jeff Jones (at 51 min 25 sec). 

Commentary:  As Canadian and Russian forces are seeking to claim and protect their oil and gas rich Arctic territory, our President seems intent on regulating America away from a 'seat at the table'.   Alaskans have joined other Americans in responding to Interior Secretary Salazar's (NGP Photo) call for comments regarding his Minerals Management Service (MMS) 2010-15 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) lease sale plan.  The preponderance of comment seems to favor more exploration and  drilling, under America's safe and demanding regulatory process; most Americans support decreased reliance on foreign suppliers and increased domestic production along with the employment and revenue OCS would produce.  However, President Obama’s White House staff and other Administration executives composing an Ocean Policy Task Force met last Friday for a hearing in Anchorage.  Many environmental and Native activists flooded the Anchorage Convention Center for an Ocean Policy Hearing and mostly dominated the dialogue with a 'no development' message.   (Although one appreciates the more reasonable testimony provided by Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, the Resource Development Council for Alaska and a few others.)  The most dangerous element of a hastily constructed 'ocean policy' is that its pronouncements could override planned OCS leasing and exploration and development--and even on-shore activity.  After all, if an ocean policy says that Arctic critters are threatened by receding ice caused by carbon emissions/global warming/greenhouse gasses, then it could order the cessation of such emissions...from oil and gas operations and even from far-away, lower 48 emitting sources like transportation, manufacturing, mining, and even the evacuation of carbon-based gasses from farm animals.  Meanwhile, the Canadians and Russians will be less encumbered with such affectation and remain focused on the important goal: obtain and protect as much oil and gas producing Arctic territory as possible while controlling Arctic transportation and sea lanes in the process.  Let's watch this issue develop.  The Task Force can only make 'recommendations'; but Obama White House recommendations to a friendly Congress inclined to support every single environmental initiative--amid the chaos of current TARP/Clunker/CIA/Health Care dialogue--should awaken all thinking Americans concerned about jobs, national defense, energy security and a strong economy.    See Harbour testimony here.   See White House Task Force Memorandum and Web Page...and Provide Your Comment Here.      -dh   *        Dickenson Press by Lisa Call.  A pipeline slated to move about 477 million cubic feet of natural gas per day through southwest North Dakota is moving into the next stages of becoming a reality.  Bison Pipeline, LLC, a subsidiary of TransCanada Corp. ....