Energy & Mining

It’s a controversial move, and a way for the state to secure drilling rights in the coastal plain in case no one else bids on the leases.

While geologists say the rock formations, oil seeps and old seismic results seem promising, big questions remain about where the oil is trapped, and exactly how much of it there is.

The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority is asking its board to allow it to spend up to $20 million on the sale.

Marathon Petroleum got the green light from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that’s tasked with reviewing natural gas project proposals, though it wasn’t a unanimous decision.

BLM says it decided to cut the land from the sale based on comments it got during a 30-day period that ended last Thursday, which included concerns about caribou, polar bear and bird habitat.

Unlike the utility’s 17,000 regular electric customers, Hecla and Princess are interruptible; the utility can only sell Hecla and Princess power after regular customers’ demand is met.

The New Mexico Democrat is a member of the Pueblo of Laguna tribe. If confirmed by the Senate, she would be the first Indigenous American to serve as a cabinet secretary. 

The state says nearly 8,000 gallons of “slop oil” leaked out of an underground line at Hilcorp’s onshore Trading Bay production facility.

Oil company Hilcorp has received the last regulatory approval in its deal to buy the Alaska assets once owned by BP.

The Gwich’in Steering Committee and 12 other groups filed a motion in U.S. District Court requesting the preliminary injunction. Separately, about a half-dozen conservation groups represented by Earthjustice filed a similar motion asking the court to freeze oil leasing and seismic activity in the coastal plain.