Alaska

Houston-based Hilcorp Energy Co., one of the largest private operators in the country and the largest in Alaska, pulled a stunner Tuesday, agreeing to pay BP plc $5.6 billion for all of its legacy operations and interests.

While domestic liquefied natural gas (LNG) developers touted increased exports as a means of improving the country’s trade balance with China, industry experts told members of the U.S. Senate they have major concerns that business dealings with Beijing could undermine U.S. economic security.

A federal district court judge in Alaska last Friday ruled an executive order (EO) issued by President Trump in 2017 opening areas of the Arctic and Atlantic oceans to oil and gas leasing was “unlawful and invalid,” and ordered the areas closed to leasing.

The Alaska Gasline Development Corp. (AGDC) has signed an agreement with BP plc and ExxonMobil Corp. to collaborate on ways to advance the state-owned corporation’s Alaska LNG project, including identifying ways to improve the project’s competitiveness and secure FERC authorization to build the project.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management have issued a joint record of decision (JROD) for the smaller of two pipeline projects designed to export natural gas from Alaska’s North Slope to Asia Pacific markets.

The new head of the Alaska Gasline Development Corp. (AGDC), who is steering a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project, reportedly has told lawmakers the state-owned corporation may be dissolved if the project is determined to be unfeasible.

The Alaska Gasline Development Corp. (AGDC), which wants to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project, ousted its president at its regular meeting on Thursday, three days after new Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy appointed four members to the state-owned corporation’s seven-member board.

Alaska and three Chinese companies have agreed to a six-month extension to negotiate and conclude definitive agreements for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in the state, despite an ongoing U.S.-Sino trade war.

Department of Interior Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt is said to be on the short list to take over after embattled Interior chief Ryan Zinke, who is facing a litany of congressional investigations, told President Trump over the weekend that he is stepping down.