Oil

Groups appeal air quality permit for Shell Arctic drilling

Environmental and Alaska Native groups are appealing an air permit granted by the Environmental Protection Agency to Shell Oil for a drilling ship the company hopes to use in Arctic Ocean waters.

Cook Inlet lease sale draws bids on 44 tracts

Alaska's annual Cook Inlet petroleum lease sale drew bids on 44 tracts by five bidding groups and individuals, with primary drillers doing fill-in work around existing leases, the state says.

Group to evaluate how to advance oil tax cuts

Supporters of changes to Alaska's oil production tax structure have called for a meeting to discuss how best to advance the debate after another legislative defeat.

North Dakota passes Alaska to become No. 2 US oil producer

North Dakota, which just six years ago was the ninth-largest oil-producing state, has passed Alaska to become the second-leading oil-producing state in the nation, trailing only Texas.

Shell trains helicopter passengers in survival

Like other oil companies, Shell relies heavily on helicopters to transport its crews and contractors to offshore oil platforms. While most helicopter flights go smoothly, Shell is investing big in training and equipment to reduce the chance of disaster and boost the odds of survival in a crash over the cold, open sea.

Video: Helicopter Underwater Egress Training

Photos: Coldwater Survival Egress Training

Tankers return to Valdez laden with crude oil

Normally Alaska North Slope crude oil flows one way -- south, toward refineries on the West Coast. But in recent weeks, something odd has happened. Tankers have returned to the terminal at Valdez still partially laden with Alaska oil. Usually, they come back empty.

Pioneer says test drilling yields 50 million barrel discovery

Pioneer Natural Resources Alaska has announced a 50-million-barrel oil discovery at its budding Nuna development. The find was based on exploration drilling completed this last winter.

Drilling rig back on site in Cook Inlet

After being dry-docked for the winter at Port Graham on the Kenai Peninsula, the Spartan 151 jack-up drilling rig is back on location in Cook Inlet for the re-entry of an oil and gas well it began last year in Furie Operating Alaska's Kitchen Lights unit.

Shell asks judge to uphold drill permits ahead of lawsuits

Subsidiaries of Royal Dutch Shell PLC are making "improper use of the judicial system" by suing to head off challenges to permits that put them closer to exploratory drilling off Alaska's northern shores, an attorney for a conservation group said Friday.

Jobs report sends oil to lowest price in 6 months

The price of oil plunged to its lowest level in nearly six months Friday, falling below $100 per barrel for the first time since February. A drop in gasoline prices can't be far behind.

Gas hydrate extraction methods to be tested in Alaska

Ongoing research in Alaska may help determine whether tapping methane hydrates deep in the permafrost and off the edges of continents will be viable in the decades to come.

Federal testing shows vast gas hydrates potential on Slope

Greenpeace activists arrested in Sweden after Shell drilling protest

Swedish police on Thursday arrested six Greenpeace activists after they boarded an icebreaker off Sweden's southeast coast, forcing authorities to tow it back to land.

If built, natural gas pipeline will terminate in Southcentral

A plan for a pipeline bringing North Slope natural gas to major commercial markets officially shifted Wednesday to one that would end in Southcentral Alaska, where the gas would be liquefied for export.

TransCanada will still pitch both pipeline options

Federal testing shows vast gas hydrates potential on Slope

The U.S. Department of Energy has completed an unprecedented successful test of harvesting the vast storehouse of methane hydrates -- natural gas trapped in permafrost -- on Alaska's North Slope.

Shell receives wildlife 'harassment' permits for Arctic offshore drilling

The National Marine Fisheries Service on Wednesday issued Shell Alaska harassment authorizations for whales and seals for its anticipated summer exploratory drilling off Alaska's Arctic coast.

Greenpeace protesters board Shell icebreaker in Finland

Some 20 Greenpeace activists climbed onboard an icebreaker in Helsinki harbor, locking themselves onto the ship and attaching banners to its sides, to protest oil and gas exploration in the Arctic Ocean.

BP shareholders attempt revival of suit against firm after spill

Lawyers for some BP shareholders are trying to revive a stalled lawsuit filed in an Alaska court in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

2012 ALASKA LEGISLATURE

Alaska lawmakers question Point Thomson settlement

Signs of skepticism emerged Friday over the deal applauded by the Parnell administration last month to resolve long-running litigation over the Exxon Mobil-operated Point Thomson oil and gas field.

Alaska House weighs options after Senate adjournment

More Legislature news

In Alaska, plan to cut oil taxes hits a wall

Oil long has been king in Alaska, but the state's Republican governor is having trouble finding support for a tax break he believes is critical to ensuring it remains so.

Oil industry plans to continue push for Alaska tax change

Oil industry interests say they won't give up on efforts to change Alaska's tax structure after Gov. Sean Parnell pulled oil taxes from the special session call.

2012 ALASKA LEGISLATURE

Prospects look grim for oil tax cut proposed by governor

No one in the Legislature seems to like Gov. Parnell's latest proposal to cut oil taxes, which would cost the Alaska treasury $1.5 billion to $2 billion a year, about the same as Parnell's earlier proposal.

More Legislature news