Inside Alaska business

The Anchorage Chamber of Commerce "Make It Monday" Forum presents "Anchorage's Tax Cap: After 25 Years, How are Taxpayers Doing?" from noon to 1 p.m., Dena'ina Convention Center. Keynote speakers are Eden Larson and Cheryl Frasca of the Anchorage Chamber's state/national affairs committee. RSVP by 9 a.m. Monday, 272-2401, or to www.anchoragechamber.org.

Shell relinquishes 61 oil gas leases to state

Shell has given back to the state its 33 oil and gas leases onshore and offshore the Alaska Peninsula, according to Petroleum News.

Shell spokesman Curtis Smith said the onshore and inland bay areas of the Bristol Bay region no longer fit into the company's exploration plans. Release of the leases will save unnecessary lease rental costs and let the state offer the leases to others, he said.

Shell is still looking into the possibility of offshore exploration in federal waters in the region, Smith said.

Shell also returned 28 of its federal leases in the Beaufort Sea. A block of 19 leases lay offshore Dease Inlet at the west end of the North Slope; the other nine lay offshore Demarcation Point near the Canadian border.

Smith emphasized that the relinquishment of both the Alaska Peninsula and Beaufort Sea leases occurred as part of Shell's active management of its lease holdings and did not signal any diminution of Shell's interest in Alaska.

Quarterly surveys will assess customer loyalty

Ivan Moore Research and Northwest Strategies, both of Anchorage, are teaming up on a new service to assess customer loyalty to different businesses. The survey is based on national research that indicates the answer to "How likely would you be to recommend a company to a friend?" is predictive of how fast a business can expect to grow relative to its competitors, said Ivan Moore, head of the polling company. Moore and Northwest Strategies, an advertising-public relations firm, plan to do the surveys quarterly, starting in March, he said. The survey also will measure Alaskans' overall confidence in the economy, he said.

Recession Outside takes toll on CIRI project

Cook Inlet Region Inc. of Anchorage has postponed plans to build three office towers at its Sonterra office park in San Antonio, Texas, according to a company newsletter.

Margie Brown, CIRI chief executive, said the Lower 48 recession has caused a slowdown in the company's Texas real estate sales and development projects, "though not as significantly as similar projects elsewhere in the country." The postponement of the office towers will last "until market trends become clearer," Brown wrote.

Another part of that development is going ahead, however. The Anchorage Native corporation is partners with InterMountain Management on a 126-room Hyatt Place hotel in the office park. The hotel will be Phase One of the overall development that will also include the three office towers, a second hotel, parking garages, a restaurant and a coffee shop, CIRI said.

InterMountain has developed and manages more than 60 hotels under 12 different brands, CIRI said.

Brown also noted that CIRI will post a loss for 2008 because the value of its stock and bond portfolio fell severely last year. But she added that the company's operating businesses "performed well." CIRI plans to release its 2008 financial results in April.

-- Anchorage Daily News