Category Archives: The Monthly Lead/Alaska Business Monthly

Arctic oil and natural gas resource basins in the Arctic Circle region (click to enlarge).
Source: US Geological Survey

In addition to pieces on this page and elsewhere, I have been writing a monthly op-ed column on oil, gas and fiscal policy issues for the Alaska Business Monthly.  The following piece is the last in that series (at least for awhile), as I go to the bench while some talk about me running for Governor (ABM’s policy understandably is to discontinue any “writings” by formally announced, or potential candidates). This final piece for the ABM was originally published in the November 2013 print edition and is available online here.  In the future I will continue writing a lead monthly article for the blog, called “The Monthly Lead.”

Normally pieces that begin with this title are about the environmental aspects of oil and gas exploration and development in the Arctic. This piece isn’t.

Instead, this piece is about the commercial aspects of oil and gas exploration and development in the Arctic and near-Arctic, and what economic characteristics make ongoing activity sustainable in some regions and not in others. From my perspective, there is a lesson for Alaska in the results. Continue reading →

In addition to pieces on this page and elsewhere, I write a monthly op-ed column on oil, gas and fiscal policy issues for the Alaska Business Monthly.  The following piece was originally published in the October 2013 print edition and is available online here.

Based on state Office of Management and Budget data, over the last decade annual state government general fund spending—operating and capital combined—has nearly tripled, from roughly $2.3 billion in FY 2004 to a now-projected $7.1 billion for FY 2014.

Over the same period, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has only increased by 27 percent. Continue reading →

In addition to pieces on this page and elsewhere, I write what began as a bi-monthly, and now has evolved into a monthly, column on oil, gas and fiscal policy issues for the Alaska Business Monthly.  The following piece was originally published in the September 2013 print edition and is available online here.

Sometimes state officials and other proponents argue that oil tax reform is needed to keep the Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) operational “until” oil from Shell Oil Company’s Chukchi Sea or other Alaska Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) projects come online in the 2020s.

The implication is that Continue reading →

As noted on these pages previously, I write what began as a bi-monthly, and now is shifting to a monthly, column on oil, gas and fiscal policy issues for the Alaska Business Monthly.  This is the seventh column, originally published in the July 2013 print edition and available online here.

At the time this piece publishes, those seeking signatures on petitions to hold a referendum to overturn SB21, the governor’s oil tax reform bill, will be in the final days of their effort. If they succeed, a long campaign of more than a year will follow on the issue, with a vote scheduled for the August 2014 primary ballot. Continue reading →

As noted on these pages previously, I write a bi-monthly column on oil & gas issues for the Alaska Business Monthly.  This is the fifth column, originally published in the March 2013 print edition and available online here.

Article VIII, Section 2 of the Alaska Constitution requires that “[t]he legislature shall provide for the utilization, development, and conservation of all natural resources belonging to the State, including land and waters, for the maximum benefit of its people.”

As we have often heard during this legislative session, many read this provision as having significant relevance to the current oil tax debate, arguing that the provision requires the state to tax oil production at high rates in order to derive the “maximum benefit” from the oil for the state’s citizens. Continue reading →

As noted on these pages previously, I write a bi-monthly column on oil & gas issues for the Alaska Business Monthly.  This is the fourth column, originally published in the January 2013 print edition and available online here.

The last column in this series (“Out of Alignment,” Alaska Business Monthly, November 2012) focused on the reasons why Alaska oil policy is misaligned with the objective of maximizing the development of the state’s oil and gas resources.

The column discussed the state’s attempted use of two tools—tax credits and direct regulatory intervention—to steer investment to Alaska and why those tools have failed to produce significant results in terms of increased production. As I explained, the state’s use of the tools has been similar to backseat driving—and just about as successful.

The column also briefly mentioned a potential solution to the state’s alignment problem—developing a means for the state to co-invest alongside industry in the development of the state’s oil and gas resources. This month’s column further explains that concept. Continue reading →