Alaska

Despite sour trade relations between the United States and China, the public corporation planning to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Alaska has signed a supplemental agreement with three Chinese companies that agreed to finance the project nearly one year ago.

China's decision to enact a 10% tariff on U.S. liquefied natural gas is unlikely to slow exports in the near term, analysts said, and a "second wave" of domestic export projects could find buyers elsewhere, especially in Europe and Asia.

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has issued a final supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) for Greater Mooses Tooth No. 2 (GMT2), a $1.5 billion development on Alaska’s North Slope first proposed by a subsidiary of ConocoPhillips three years ago.

Despite souring Sino-U.S. trade relations, executives with two state-owned Chinese companies reportedly plans to honor agreements with their American counterparts, including an $83.7 billion memorandum of understanding (MOU) to develop shale gas and chemical manufacturing projects in West Virginia.

Alaska is holding oil and natural gas lease sales in November to offer open tracts for development on the North Slope, North Slope Foothills, as well as the Beaufort Sea. The auctions come as experts suggest the North Slope is poised to re-emerge as a major U.S. producing area.

A Department of Interior official said the agency is moving forward to open a portion of the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and natural gas leasing in 2019, and predicted that a lease sale scheduled for the region will attract significant interest from producers.

The Willow discovery, a ConocoPhillips prospect in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, may hold up to 750 million boe and could be rich enough to justify constructing a standalone crude oil hub in the region, management said this week.

Houston-based super independent ConocoPhillips said Tuesday it has an agreement with BP plc that would, among other things, boost its holdings in a legacy development in Alaska.

Considered a major step toward exporting natural gas to Asia Pacific markets, the Alaska Gasline Development Corp. (AGDC) on Friday received environmental approval for one of two proposed pipeline projects.