Energy

Chevron and Hilcorp have relinquished leases for a small tract of Alaska Native corporation-owned land within the refuge’s boundaries.

AltaGas said it will sell Enstar to another Canada-based company.

The utilities say the upgrades will allow them to take more advantage of low-cost renewable power.

Microreactors are largely in the research phase, and any installation of a microreactor would not happen for several years, the governor’s office said.

ConocoPhillips Alaska said the reservoir is expected to produce up to 20,000 barrels of oil per day, adding to Alaska North Slope oil production rates that lately have run near 500,000 barrels daily.

The solar project is owned by the tribal governments in Shungnak and Kobuk, who are selling the power to rural Alaska’s largest electric utility.

Aging infrastructure, climate change and global conflict are going to keep fuel prices in more parts of rural Alaska unmanageably high, and potentially worse.

The oil company says it has spent tens of millions of dollars to acquire its leases and could lose its competitive advantage if the well data is released.

The notice has prompted the utilities to take a long-term look at their energy needs and new prospects like renewables.

Alaska Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan pushed back at the assertion, saying high oil prices could lead to more interest. “You just don’t always know until you hold a sale,” he said.

The Interior Department cited a lack of interest from oil companies in the Alaska lease sale, as well as legal obstacles and a time crunch, as reasons for nixing the auctions.

The oil company blamed the leak on a component of a well that failed during an operation that put too much pressure on the well.

President Joe Biden legally called for suspending new and gas lease sales while considering their effect on climate change, and onshore and offshore sales were legally postponed, a federal attorney argued Tuesday in a New Orleans hearing.

The company took home $584 million in Alaska as the Russia invasion of Ukraine led to oil prices rising to their highest levels in eight years.

The industry is small but growing fast in Anchorage and statewide, observers say, aided by a federal tax credit, high power prices and increasing confidence in the technology.

The chair of the Natural Resources Committee members sent a letter to the company’s chief executive seeking answers by May 13.

The federal agency said it would roll back a Trump-era land use plan for the reserve and follow a plan created under the Obama administration.

ConocoPhillips hasn’t confirmed a specific cause, but the oil company said it drilled through an area it didn’t expect to contain significant amounts of gas.

A proposed new electric reliability organization could improve coordination between utilities and make it easier for renewables to enter the grid, they say.

The Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council said in a Monday letter that it has “become aware of serious safety and environmental concerns” related to the effort to remove snow from oil tanks at the Valdez Marine Terminal.

Heavy late winter snows ripped vents off several Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. tanks and caused emissions that state regulators say violated the Clean Air Act. Dozens of respirator-equipped workers are now scrambling to clear the pileup.

After the initial discovery of gas, ConocoPhillips says small amounts of gas have escaped from cracks in the surface and at seven wells at the CD1 drill site.

Caroline Schultz previously worked as an official in Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s Office of Management and Budget.