Alaska'S

ExxonMobil Corp. said Friday it has started up production at Point Thomson, the first company-operated project on Alaska’s North Slope, where initial output is expected to be 5,000 b/d of condensate and 100 MMcf/d of natural gas.

The Department of Interior may have an updated environmental assessment for the oil and natural gas potential of Alaska’s Chukchi Sea ready by early 2015.

A study commissioned by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources (DNR) on the commercial aspects of the Alaska liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project that the three major North Slope oil producers (ExxonMobil Corp., BP plc, ConocoPhillips and TransCanada Corp.) are pursuing says the state would benefit from having an equity stake in the pipeline and LNG project.

The search for natural gas and oil in ever more remote regions is drawing more prospectors to the U.S. Arctic Ocean, which includes Alaska waters, but there aren’t enough safeguards in place to ensure accidents can be managed, according to The Pew Charitable Trusts.