A Citizen’s Guide

WHITEHORSE, Yukon Territory—Canadian leaders this week underscored their commitment to helping make the Alaska Highway natural gas pipeline a reality.

Yukon Premier Dennis Fentie and Alberta Premier Ralph Klein, along with John van Dongen, B.C.’s minister of state for intergovernmental affairs, threw their support behind Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski at an Alaska-Canada Regional Summit on Wednesday, according to the Whitehorse Star.

“We all know that the price of natural gas is extremely high. That’s what makes the Alaska Highway pipeline so economically feasible today,” Klein said during a news conference in Anchorage. Read the rest of this entry »

The latest Capital squall, which hit this morning, is over comments by the Murkowski’s administration that indicate acceptance of a Mackenzie Valley natural gas pipeline being built before work begins on an Alaska project.

Chuck Logsdon, Murkowski’s oil and gas spokesman, said the projects need to be built one after the other to avoid competing for steel and labor.

“The timing for us would be good if Canada would start building their pipeline now,” he said. “Alaska would then be ready to go when they finish their project.” Read the rest of this entry »

As Alaska legislators consider what production tax rate to impose on oil companies, a BP executive Wednesday tried to convince a Fairbanks audience that ensuring long-term investment in the state matters more than getting the highest tax rate on oil.

Oil company profits are not the state’s enemy, said Ken Konrad, BP’s senior vice president of gas. “The enemy for Alaska … is production decline.” Read the rest of this entry »

JUNEAU—The Senate Resources Committee completed work on Gov. Frank Murkowski’s oil tax legislation Wednesday, passing a version significantly different than one recommended by the administration.

The committee spent five weeks poring over the governor’s proposal to revamp the state’s oil taxes, emerging with what amounts to a thorough rewrite.

Among the biggest changes in the Senate version is a 25 percent base tax rate that increases incrementally when the price of oil rises above $40 a barrel. The committee’s version also reduces many of the lucrative incentives the governor claims are needed to encourage exploration and investment. Read the rest of this entry »

Rep. Jim Holm, R-Fairbanks, said today that, despite rumors to the contrary, the House Finance Committee was not in a rush to finish its work on the oil tax bill.

The Finance Committee co-chairmen—Rep. Mike Chenault, R-Nikiski, and Kevin Meyer, R-Anchorage—told reporters on Monday that they expected the committee to take at least two weeks to review the bill. Read the rest of this entry »

Joe Balash, a senior staffer in the office of North Pole Sen. Gene Therriault, has been working for more than a week to get a series of amendments adopted to the Senate version of the governor’s oil tax reform bill.

The bill is still before the Senate Resources Committee. Chair Tom Wagoner, R-Kenai, has said he wants to move the bill out today, but so far committee member Sen. Ben Stevens, the Anchorage Republican who is also Senate president, has held things up by claiming to need more time to review the proposed changes. Read the rest of this entry »