A Citizen’s Guide

To the editor:

Hello out there, I hope that everyone has a safe spring. Please be careful. We would rather have you around than having you do something stupid, so be careful.

So anyway, we have been talking to people about the oil and gas prices. I think that we as Alaskans need to get together and write to our legislators and tell them we want oil and gas to stay in Alaska. Read the rest of this entry »

To the editor:

Any state legislator wishing to be both re-elected and wishing to promote additional taxation on the oil producers in the state should tie his or her proposal to include a fuel dividend to state residents. Read the rest of this entry »

Former Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin is incorrect in her commentary against Senate Bill 316 and House Bill 502 (News-Miner, April 23) when she asserts that “the governor is unfairly replacing the unbiased decision-making of the court with the political decision making of the Legislature.”

This is not a public policy issue that would take away a right to go to court that normally exists, but rather a housekeeping measure to correct an artifact of the Stranded Gas Development Act as it was originally introduced in 1998.

SB316 and HB502 would eliminate a conflict within the Stranded Gas Act in how a proposed gas pipeline contract receives its final approval. Read the rest of this entry »

JUNEAU—A proposal to tax natural gas at a third the rate of oil is being called a “train wreck” by some House Finance Committee members.

The committee on Saturday heard from petroleum consultants on a net-profits tax bill meant to replace the state’s current production tax.

The provision that got the attention of most of the lawmakers was a provision inserted into the bill by the Senate Finance Committee in which just $1 out of every $3 in gas revenue would be taxed at the proposed 22.5 percent tax rate.

Legislative consultants Econ One Research Inc. presented to lawmakers models of the effect of that reduction on potential gas developments.

The result was that with the proposed changes, the state would receive much less revenue than Gov. Frank Murkowski’s original bill would take, and less than even the current tax system for all fields but Prudhoe Bay. Read the rest of this entry »

JUNEAU—Alaska could partially subsidize development of the Point Thomson natural gas field through oil-tax credits generated under a bill the Legislature is considering, the governor’s petroleum consultant told lawmakers Saturday.

That’s a turnaround from the state’s position last year, when the Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Oil and Gas found Point Thomson operator Exxon Mobil Corp. in default for not developing the field itself and threatened to revoke its leases.

Under Gov. Frank Murkowski’s net-profits tax bill, Exxon Mobil would be able to use tax credits on both oil investments and gas investments to develop the North Slope field and its 9 trillion cubic feet of gas, said consultant Pedro van Meurs.

The field has sat undeveloped for nearly 30 years and now figures prominently in negotiations between Murkowski and three oil companies, including Exxon Mobil, to build a $25 billion natural-gas pipeline to Canada and Midwestern markets. Read the rest of this entry »

JUNEAU—The Senate Judiciary Committee passed a bill Friday meant to bar a court from halting or delaying legislative review of a natural gas contract. The measure would allow the public to bring a legal challenge only after the review is complete.

The bill would amend the Stranded Gas Development Act, the law by which Alaska officials can negotiate and ratify a contract on tax and royalty terms for recovering North Slope gas reserves.

Read Senate Bill 316 in PDF or text format.

Gov. Frank Murkowski and the state’s three largest oil producers have struck an agreement in principle on the terms to develop the 35 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves.

Having moved out of the judiciary committee, the bill’s next stop is the Senate floor. A companion bill is in the House Judiciary Committee. Read the rest of this entry »