Arctic Alaska

Oil boom brings hope, anxiety to Arctic village

Benjamin Frederic Tagarook, 32, picks salmonberries next to the area where a new road is going in to serve onshore operations for Shell's offshore oil drilling project. Wainwright, Alaska, population under 600, is already changing as Shell begins drilling off the coast in the Chukchi Sea.

Wainwright, a town of 550 people on barren bluffs of tundra 800 miles northwest of Anchorage, seems an unlikely venue for an oil boom. But the discovery of a massive undersea pool of oil just offshore in the Chukchi Sea has, for many, turned ...

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Archive by category ''Arctic Alaska

OIL AND GAS

Shell drill ship in Chukchi Sea moves south to let ice pass

A Royal Dutch Shell petroleum drill ship in the Chukchi Sea has moved 30 miles south of a company prospect to wait for a huge ice floe to move through. The company began preliminary work Sunday on an exploratory well but was forced to stop hours later when ice approached.
OIL AND GAS

State releases report on local energy resources

The state released a report Friday aimed at helping Alaska communities better understand their potential for fossil fuel or geothermal resource development.
SPORTS

Alaska-born wheelchair racer captures bronze at Paralympics

Alaska-born wheelchair racer Shirley Reilly captured a bronze medal at the London Paralympics on Friday by finishing third in the 1,500 meters. It's the second medal of the games for the former Barrow woman, who competed in Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008 without winning a medal.
OIL AND GAS

Oil company delays exploration in Arctic waters off Alaska

A Norwegian oil and gas company is delaying plans to explore for oil offshore in the Alaska Arctic until at least 2015 because of concerns about regulatory challenges faced by rival and sometimes partner Shell Oil Co.
OIL AND GAS

DNR commissioner, North Slope Borough mayor push for Point Thomson permitting

A top Alaska official and the North Slope Borough mayor have a message for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Please get on with permitting Exxon Mobil's proposed Point Thomson project.
ARCTIC ALASKA

Arctic ice record low fails to surprise Barrow

Here at the top of the world, the news that Arctic sea ice has reached a new low -- the smallest footprint since satellites began measuring it three decades ago -- is not much of a surprise.
INTERIOR

Helicopter rescues stranded tourist in Brooks Range

A military helicopter crew rescued a German man Tuesday in the Brooks Range after his canoe was damaged while floating down a river, according to the Alaska Air National Guard.
OIL AND GAS

Federal appeals court affirms polar bear harassment rules

Oil companies operating in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska's northwest coast will have a negligible effect on polar bears and walrus, according to a federal appeals court ruling Tuesday that backed U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rules on harassment of the animals.
FAIRBANKS

Documentary looks at suicide among Alaska Natives

"In a landscape as dramatic as its stories, Alaska Native people face staggering suicide rates, yet remain determined to heal and thrive." So begins the description of "We Breathe Again," a documentary film in progress on Kickstarter.com, an Internet funding platform for creative projects.
OIL AND GAS

State gauging interest in royal-in-kind oil

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources wants to know if any commercial petroleum processors with good credit are interested in bidding for some or all of its North Slope royalty in-kind oil supply when the current contract expires in early 2014.