A Citizen’s Guide

First: Alaska North Slope crude oil dropped $1.70 on Monday to $93.12.

NPR is airing a new series this week called “Oil Turmoil” on high oil prices.

They have a graphic — which looks like a White Stripes video — showing how high oil prices ripple through all sorts of other buying habits.

Then: Obviously the big question in Juneau is whether, or to what extent, the Senate will follow the House.

The Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to meet this morning and the full Senate is set to meet Wednesday afternoon.

And Finally: The Houston Chronicle energy blog wrote yesterday about a new Rice University study examining where different oil companies spend their money. (It’s funny how all of the “Big Five” companies operate in Alaska, but we only consider three of them to be “Big.”)

According to the report, the major oil companies are spending less on exploration, while the independents are spending more.

Even though independent and smaller oil companies have been given time to testify this month in Juneau, they don’t seem to be making much of a dent. Smaller companies like Pioneer and Brooks Range Petroleum argue they don’t have the margins of the big companies, and can’t weather a tax increase the same way.

The in-state gas provision could help out some companies, like Anadarko, but would do nothing for Pioneer’s work on the North Slope.