Update | 4:05 p.m. March 4, 2016
Apache has pulled their optimistic promotional video about its Cook Inlet venture from their YouTube page.
Here’s a transcription of the opening lines of the video, which was published in November 2012:
“They said she was a dying oil field, they said her best days were behind her. They had all but written the obituary for Alaska’s Cook Inlet. But where others saw decline, the Apache Corporation saw opportunity. Now with cutting edge technology, strong financial backing and determined attitudes, the Apache Corporation is on the threshold of rewriting the destiny of Cook Inlet.”
Original story | 7:55 p.m. March 3, 2016
The oil and gas company Apache Corp. is pulling out of Alaska, citing low oil prices.
The company is one of the largest leaseholders in Cook Inlet, where it has been exploring for oil since 2010. In an emailed statement, a company spokesperson said Apache is slashing spending for the coming year by 60 percent and halting work in several regions, including Alaska.
“Due to the current downturn, Apache has had to significantly scale back operations and spending,” wrote Castlen Kennedy, the company’s vice president for public affairs. Kennedy added that the company is “focusing our limited dollars on specific international opportunities and strategic testing in North America.”
“Operations we are suspending as a result of the downturn include our Alaskan activities,” she wrote.
Kennedy said the company expects job losses to be “minimal,” since Apache has been scaling back operations in the state for the past year.
Apache is an independent oil and gas company based in Houston, with operations across North America and in the U.K. and Egypt. Last week, the company reported a net loss of $23 billion in 2015.
The company was bullish on Cook Inlet in this 2012 video.
