Tim Bradner

TIM BRADNER

Shorter, smaller gas line might serve Alaskans better

North Slope oil and gas producers are now focused on a large- diameter pipeline to a south Alaska port and a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant, thanks to Gov. Sean Parnell's initiatives. By the end of September, the companies are due to submit a plan to Parnell laying out how they will tackle the project.

TIM BRADNER

Settlement provides fresh start on LNG project

Gov. Sean Parnell deserves a pat on the back for bringing to closure the contentious Point Thomson gas field lawsuits. Those were big clouds hanging over a major North Slope gas project. Point Thomson has almost one-fourth of the gas reserves on the Slope, and resolving uncertainties over its ownership is necessary for an eventual gas project.

TIM BRADNER

Volume limit is hobbling our gas line project

An interesting project now in advanced planning is the effort by the state-owned Alaska Gasline Development Corp., or AGDC, to build an "in-state" natural gas pipeline from the North Slope.

TIM BRADNER

January strained gas supplies but help's coming

Things are still interesting on the natural gas front. We made it through a very cold January with no gas supply problems, but barely. Enstar Natural Gas Co. told me it was worried on one or two of the coldest days. We're not out of the woods yet, because we could still see another cold snap or two. Let's hope there's enough gas in the pipe.

TIM BRADNER

Nome isn't only city lacking fuel security

The drama that played out in Norton Sound this week, with the icebreaker Healy smashing a path through heavy ice so a Russian tanker could deliver fuel to Nome, was an inspiring feat of seamanship by the crews of both vessels and innovation by the marine fuel company that organized the venture, Vitus Marine.

TIM BRADNER

To fuel our future, we need to go further, fast

Gov. Sean Parnell's state budget, released Thursday along with state revenue and oil production forecasts, reflect some disturbing trends: less revenue, higher costs and trouble ahead.

TIM BRADNER

New gas discoveries show that incentives work

Exciting things have happened with Cook Inlet oil and gas exploration over the last few weeks. Escopeta Oil Co., a small independent, announced that it found gas in an offshore well drilled with a jack-up rig in the Inlet.

TIM BRADNER

Let's look carefully at gas line possibilities

It's easy to be confused by all the gas pipelines being worked on. There's a logic to the work being done, however. At this point it's all about developing options, which is prudent. However, we'd better take a really deep breath before we decide to actually build something, if it involves public dollars.

Our agriculture industry small but fertile

I got to tag along with a group of legislators touring Matanuska-Susitna Borough farms a few weeks ago and it was a real eye-opener. Rep. Bill Stoltze, R-Chugiak, organized this visit of a legislative delegation to several working farms to make the point to his colleagues in Juneau that agriculture is quite viable in Alaska.

TIM BRADNER

Underground coal gasification a possibility

There is now an intense focus on securing energy supplies for Southcentral Alaska. Natural gas fields in the region, which have brought us cheap energy for decades, are being depleted.

TIM BRADNER

Deep-freeze methane may be hot state property

Conoco Phillips plans an interesting hydrocarbon test later this year: trying to extract methane gas from a hydrate on the North Slope. BP also plans a different hydrate test it will try later.

TIM BRADNER

Confused on natural gas? Stand by for more

Are we running out of natural gas in Southcentral Alaska? If the answers seem confusing, don't feel lonely.

TIM BRADNER

Drill rig and Alaska at the mercy of the law

If there were an Alaska medal for chutzpah and pluck, we should give it to Texas oil wildcatter Danny Davis. For years Davis' small independent company, Escopeta Oil and Gas, has been working to bring a jack-up drilling rig to Cook Inlet.

TIM BRADNER

Fund is proof Alaskans can do something right

Alaskans seem glum these days. Legislators are fighting over the budget and oil taxes. There's declining oil production. Our big gas pipeline dream seems down the tube.

TIM BRADNER

Time will come for Plan B on gas pipeline

It's time for a talk with TransCanada Corp. about renegotiating at least parts of the state's contract with the pipeline company. What seemed like a good idea three years ago doesn't anymore. TransCanada has been a good partner with the state, however, and there might be a win-win solution.

TIM BRADNER

Kenai closure reminder of fragile gas market

The announcement last week by Conoco Phillips and Marathon Oil that they will close the Kenai natural gas liquefaction plant is another rude reminder of how fragile our petroleum economy has become.

TIM BRADNER

Gas pipeline not our only option

There's utter gloom around town about a major natural gas pipeline project. Lower 48 markets are awash in gas, prices are low and shale gas drillers are busy finding more and more of the stuff.

TIM BRADNER

Native students thrive in innovative program

What I want from Santa this year is some good news about anything. Afghanistan, Pakistan, the economy, Congress, a gas pipeline, our state's long-term prospects, our education system. Please, Santa, put some good news about something in my stocking Christmas morning.

TIM BRADNER

State grants are Bush boon

When government does things right, it's worth a pat on the back. With that in mind, let's give credit to our Alaska Energy Authority, state legislators and Gov. Sean Parnell, who have given steady support to a renewable energy grant program aimed mainly at helping small rural villages.

TIM BRADNER

Time to get serious about alternate energy

It's time to get serious about alternative energy for the Railbelt, the Southcentral-Interior corridor of the state's largest communities.

TIM BRADNER

ANCSA milestone coming up

Alaska's Native corporations, now part of the foundation for the state's economy, will turn 40 soon. It's certainly a thing to celebrate, though it's a sobering milestone for me.

TIM BRADNER

Alaska needs an energy referee

The year 2014 is hanging over Southcentral Alaska like the Sword of Damocles. That's the year the natural gas runs out, at least in a manner of speaking, or so some experts believe.

TIM BRADNER

Look at total cost of gas line

The first cost estimates for an in-state gas pipeline, the so-called "bullet line," were released by the state last Thursday, and the results were sobering.

TIM BRADNER

Oil industry vital to Alaska

A sense of gloom is spreading through the nation's energy industry from the Gulf of Mexico, and it's touching Alaska. Our confidence that advanced technology can handle any problem, even gushers gone wild at the bottom of the sea, is severely challenged.

TIM BRADNER

Gulf rig disaster a good reason to wean state off oil

The Gulf of Mexico oil spill is a jolting reminder of how unexpected accidents and events can radically affect us. Alaskans should be acutely sensitive to this, given our own experiences with a tanker accident in 1989 and an earthquake in 1964.

TIM BRADNER

Deep-water rig needed in Inlet

State and community leaders have finally focused on the serious threat we face with pending natural gas shortages in Southcentral Alaska, and it's about time.

TIM BRADNER

Wellness a tough sell in Alaska

Soaring health insurance costs are on almost every business manager's mind. Medical costs, which drive health insurance costs and premiums, are rising faster in Alaska than in any other state.

TIM BRADNER

State, industry duel over oil tax

A roiling debate over oil and gas taxes is under way again in the Legislature. For those of us who sat through days and weeks of painful hearings when the state's net profits tax on oil was passed in 2006 and amended in 2007, this seems like a nightmare revisited.

TIM BRADNER

Point Thomson fight must be ended

State Superior Court Judge Sharon Gleason rapped the state on the knuckles big time last week over procedural flaws in its 2008 decision to terminate the Point Thomson Unit, a group of oil and gas leases east of Prudhoe Bay where a big gas field was discovered years ago.

TIM BRADNER

We have many blessings, but challenges too

Alaskans should be grateful about a number of things as we head into 2010. The state's economy is tightening but our ship held pretty steady through the economic storms that swept the world in late 2008 and 2009.

TIM BRADNER

Coming months crucial for state's oil, gas industries

Alaskans are apprehensive about getting a natural gas pipeline built from the North Slope.

TIM BRADNER

What is the state lacking? Courage

An acquaintance, a recently retired civil engineer, remarked about how long it has been -- decades in fact -- since Alaskans had the vision and courage to take on major infrastructure projects, the kind that can transform our state or regional economy.

TIM BRADNER

Southcentral natural gas picture isn't pretty

It is dawning on people, finally, that we have an energy problem in Southcentral Alaska. Natural gas heats our homes and buildings and fuels 90 percent of our electricity production, but the gas fields are running down. We need to get more from somewhere.

TIM BRADNER

Tourist tax may cost state dearly

It's a tough year for Alaska's tourism firms. The forebodings earlier this year, of 20 percent to 30 percent declines in visitor-related business, have become reality.

TIM BRADNER

Engineering program's success can be repeated

The University of Alaska's Alaska Native in Science and Engineering Program, or ANSEP, continues to rack up national honors and recognition as an example of how a tough problem can be tackled.

TIM BRADNER

Offshore rich with oil potential

If there were an Honorary Medal for Perseverance, corporate level, it should surely go to Shell Oil for hanging in there with its ideas for exploring for oil and gas in the Arctic.

TIM BRADNER

Some public servants deserve an award for awareness

We're usually quick to gripe about politicians and bureaucrats, as unfair as it seems to those being griped about.

TIM BRADNER

We may all freeze while lawmakers skirt hard choices

Legislators in Juneau think an answer to our serious energy problems is to create a new agency, a state Department of Energy. Bills have been introduced in both the House and Senate.

TIM BRADNER

State needs energy solutions

Alaskans love to tie ourselves in knots over important decisions. There were encouraging developments last month, however, that could smooth out some wrinkles.

TIM BRADNER

Gas pricing point linked to Outside

Like everyone else, I got a jolt when I opened my Enstar Natural Gas Co. bill this month. I knew about Enstar's 22 percent rate increase but reality doesn't sink in until it's there in black and white.

TIM BRADNER

Flint Hills a key to our well-being

Frustrated over those sticky fuel prices? Gasoline and diesel here are still about a dollar a gallon over national prices, and that galls Alaskans. Here's a chance to do something about it.

TIM BRADNER

Some Native corporations planning for future

Alaska Native corporations, our large private landowners, frequently take the lead in natural resource and economic development. We see these corporations hustling for minerals and oil exploration on their land and sometimes land owned by others. We see them taking the leading innovative development projects too.

TIM BRADNER

Our giants paved way to prosperity

The state turns 50 next year and it's time to reflect on what statehood had accomplished, particularly on wise decisions people made back then that have had profound consequences. In the hindsight of five decades, those people were giants. Luck played its part too.

TIM BRADNER

Alaska must plan for harder times

Amid the national financial mess, Alaska is an island of economic stability and relative prosperity.

TIM BRADNER

Now that election is over, we need Pebble facts

The ruckus over Ballot Measure 4 is behind us. It's time to set the rhetoric aside and take a careful and reasoned look at the Pebble mine prospect. I'd like to hear some thoughtful arguments from both sides. No more bumper sticker talk, please.