Oil

Pioneer may postpone Cosmopolitan well

Faced with oil prices below $60 a barrel and natural gas prices down to about $6 per thousand cubic feet, Pioneer Natural Resources is planning substantial cuts in its 2009 drilling program.

Court orders review of Beaufort drilling plan

The federal government improperly granted Shell Oil permission to explore for oil and gas in Alaska�s Beaufort Sea, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.

Oil firms outline '09 projects

With the price of oil plunging, executives with BP and other energy companies said they'll throttle back on some Alaska projects in the coming year. But they also outlined plans to march on with others, including three new oil fields in the Beaufort Sea.

Alaska crude dips below $50 a barrel; July peak was $144

Alaska oil prices on Tuesday dropped below $50 a barrel for the first time since January 2007 as world crude prices continue to soften in the face of slackening demand.

Average gas prices in Anchorage (11/18/08)

Japan joins countries in recession; crude slides

Alaska and world oil prices continued their fall Monday, with North Slope crude closing at $51.45 on West Coast open markets, its lowest price since January 2007.

State refuses to let Exxon build ice road

The state has rejected a request by Exxon Mobil Corp. to build an ice road in a North Slope natural gas field whose lease ownership is in dispute.

Oil production change on the North Slope

North Slope oil production peaked in the 1980s

Cook Inletkeeper wants DEC hearing on oil, gas discharges

Cook Inletkeeper has asked the state to hold a public hearing on its claim that state certification of pollution discharges from Cook Inlet oil and gas facilities violates the U.S. Clean Water Act.

Report touts northern coal gasification

A study commissioned by the Fairbanks Economic Development Corp. is touting the value of a local plant that could turn coal and biomass into liquid fuel.

Exxon payout a step closer

A federal judge Wednesday issued a ruling that could clear the way for a multimillion-dollar payout of punitive damages to thousands of commercial fishermen and others who claimed harm from the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989.

Blog: The Highliner lists the claimants and punitive damages they will receive

Arctic is rich in promising energy source: gas hydrates

Frozen crystals packed with concentrated natural gas and buried 2,000 feet below the permafrost on Alaska's North Slope could become the next major domestic energy source, according to a government survey.

As checks near, fishermen resigned to disappointment

After a nearly 20-year wait, thousands of commercial fishermen and other plaintiffs are on the brink of collecting punitive damages for the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Blog: The Highliner lists the claimants and punitive damages they will receive

Exxon Valdez background

RCA opens docket on intrastate tariffs

State regulators are considering whether to increase rates for shipping oil through the trans-Alaska oil pipeline to in-state refineries.

Fairbanks Natural Gas pricing described as fair

Despite a profitable year and a salary bump for its president, Fairbanks Natural Gas is not collecting too much revenue and its rates should not be regulated, according to two witnesses testifying for the state Attorney General's office.

North Slope output up 5 percent in October

North Slope oil production averaged 743,112 barrels per day in October, up 5.4 percent from September.

Investigation sought into Slope oil-spill case

An environmental watchdog group has asked the Department of Justice's inspector general to investigate whether the department prematurely halted a criminal prosecution of BP for a 2006 oil spill in Alaska.

Photos: '06 Prudhoe Bay spill

RCA orders price cap for new Enstar deals

Two months after a contentious hearing over Enstar Natural Gas Co.'s new contracts to buy Cook Inlet natural gas from Conoco Phillips Alaska and Marathon Oil Co., the decision state regulators made might set a precedent for how local utility gas is priced for years.

Utility petitions to block gas exports

An Anchorage electric utility is asking a federal court to block continued exports of Cook Inlet natural gas to Asia. The petition challenges a U.S. Department of Energy decision in June to allow a pair of oil companies, Conoco Phillips and Marathon, to keep exporting Cook Inlet gas for two more years -- through March 2011.

Industry seeks best way to clean up oil on drifting ice

A big worry about the oil industry's heightened interest in finding and producing oil off Alaska's northern coast involves how to clean up a spill that happens in broken sea ice.

Alaska central to US energy supplies, Shell's Odum says

Alaska is central to the question of where the United States will obtain its future energy resources. And that's critical to the issues of energy security and the need for major new resource development, said Marvin Odum, president of Shell Oil Co.

Alaska increased proven US oil reserves in 2007

Led by new finds in Alaska, proved oil reserves in the United States grew last year for the first time since 2003, while proved natural gas reserves increased more than any year on record, according to new figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.