Alaska

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said Friday it estimates 1.4 Tcf of conventional natural gas resources are technically recoverable in formations west of Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve (NPR-A), the first time such an assessment has been released for the area.  Despite the North Slope’s abundant petroleum resources, the region is not believed to contain any…

Plans to convert an Alaska liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal, the oldest in the United States, to allow imports moved ahead this week after clearing another regulatory hurdle.  The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) found a Marathon Petroleum Corp. subsidiary’s plans to import four cargoes a year of the super-chilled fuel at the Kenai…

A two-year trend of rising proved reserves of oil and natural gas in the United States hit a snag in 2019 as prices declined, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Proved reserves of oil increased 367 million bbl in 2019, while proved reserves of lease condensate produced from gas wells dropped 313 million bbl,…

FERC has approved a Marathon Petroleum Corp. subsidiary’s request to convert the Kenai liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal in Alaska to import operations.  Trans-Foreland Pipeline Co. LLC filed an application to import natural gas earlier this year at the terminal in Nikiski on the Kenai Peninsula. The facility began operating in 1969 and for…

The Trump administration plans to hold an oil and gas auction for the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in early January, setting up a showdown with opponents less than three weeks before President-elect Biden takes over. The Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) set the video livestream lease sale for Jan. 6.…

The Trump administration on Monday began a formal push that possibly could allow oil and natural gas leases to be auctioned in Alaska’s pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) before Joseph R. Biden Jr. is sworn into office in January. According to a preliminary notice in the Federal Register to be published on Tuesday, the…

The Alaska liquefied natural gas (LNG) project cleared its final federal regulatory hurdle this week after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) authorized the incidental take of marine mammals.  The authorization was issued Wednesday permitting the harm or killing of porpoises, sea lions, seals and whales during a five-year period from 2021-2025 during specified…

The oil and gas industry is bracing for a possible November victory by Joseph R. Biden Jr., who is leading in the polls and who officially accepted the Democratic nomination Thursday from Wilmington, DE. Although energy policy has taken a backseat to the Covid-19 pandemic and economic hardship facing Americans, climate change has nonetheless garnered…

The U.S. Department of the Interior on Monday signed off on a plan that would allow oil and gas leasing in a swath of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska, a move that invited praise from proponents but swift vows of legal action from environmentalists. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said officials were acting…