Oil Companies

A new group is launching a campaign against the petition to repeal Senate Bill 21, which passed with the idea that it would increase oil production in Alaska. We Are Alaska is an independent expenditure group from the Alaska Support Industry Alliance. The group says its goal is to educate Alaskans about the consequences of signing a petition to reverse SB21. We Are Alaska believes the oil tax law is essential to revive the state's robust oil economy and that the bill will boost investment and production.

Alaska’s major oil producers testified Wednesday afternoon that Alaska is uncompetitive and that oil tax changes are needed to improve the investment climate. Representatives of BP, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil Corp., Pioneer Natural Resources, and the Alaska Oil and Gas Association (AOGA) gathered before the House Resources Committee, which is hearing Gov. Sean Parnell’s bill to change ACES by reducing the tax burden on the state’s petroleum industry. The bill also offers incentives for companies to pursue further exploration.

by Jason Lamb and Megan Baldino Thursday, January 14, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Thursday Gov. Sean Parnell proposed changes to ACES -- Alaska's Clear and Equitable Share -- that impose taxes on oil companies doing business in Alaska. Parnell says the changes will encourage more investment in Alaska projects and create jobs. Parnell called these four "discrete" changes to ACES, but some Republican critics say the damage under the old plan might already be done.

by Ted Land Monday, February 8, 2010 JUNEAU, Alaska -- A bill in the state legislature makes a simple offer to oil companies: Hire local, and the state will cut your taxes. It's part of a plan to increase the amount of oil flowing out of Alaska. The House Resources Committee took on the issue Monday. The trade off is that the state will lose income, theoretically in favor of more jobs. Oil companies are taxed at 25 percent for the petroleum they extract from the North Slope.

So what could you do with a tax break of $700-thousand a day for the next ten years? A lot, huh. Well the three major oil producers on the North Slope say they couldn't do much with that kind of money. Just manage a continued, steady decline there. On Wednesday, representatives of the three big producers testified before the Alaska Senate Finance Committeee. They told committee members that they need a tax break of almost $5-million a day to stop Prudhoe Bay's decline -- and start bringing the numbers back up. Some lawmakers are skeptical of that promise.

Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell has certified a referendum seeking to repeal the oil tax reform bill passed by the Legislature this year, leaving supporters with less than three months to gather enough signatures to put it on the state's 2014 primary ballot. Members of the group Vote Yes, Repeal The Giveaway, which includes elder Alaska statesman Vic Fischer and former Alaska First Lady Bella Hammond, submitted their referendum to stop Senate Bill 21 one week ago to Treadwell's office in Downtown Anchorage's Atwood Building.

An Alaska State Senate committee charged with revamping Alaska's oil and gas tax structure has started introducing amendments after days of hearings surrounding the plan to increase oil production on the North Slope by cutting taxes for oil companies. There are 17 amendments in all.  Sens. Bill Wielechowski and Hollis French (both D-Anchorage) announced nine of those amendments, all hoping to encourage oil company investment. One proposal from Wielechowski and French would reduce taxes for oil companies that increase production from one year to the next; for each new barrel of oil produced, companies would get a $10 discount off their total production tax value.

A new group is adding its voice to the debate over tax breaks for oil companies. The Make Alaska Competitive Coalition says something needs to be done to encourage North Slope exploration. The group says Alaska's oil and gas production tax known as ACES, which stands for Alaska's Clear and Equitable Share, isn't working. The Make Alaska Competetive Coalition touts itself as not being backed by the oil industry, but rather by prominent business and community leaders. The group held a campaign kickoff Wednesday, and those in attendance were weighing in on Gov. Sean Parnell's plan to provide more incentives to the oil industry for new development.

Alaska State Troopers in Fairbanks say they were contacted by a North Pole man who threatened acts of terrorism in an attempt to extort $85,000 from the State of Alaska.  In the deal, Stanislaus Grzeskowiak, 36, would abandon plans to commit several acts of terrorism in exchange for the money.  Troopers say Grzeskowiak believed the acts would have affected oil companies, credit card companies, cell phone companies, the University of Alaska and...

Even as some lawmakers have barely had time to unpack their bags after returning from Juneau, a group of Alaskans are trying to repeal a piece of legislation passed on the final day of the 90 day session. "If Senate Bill 21 survives, this state may go bankrupt in a few years,” said repeal organizer Ray Metcalfe.  “If Senate Bill 21 survives, it's very soon going to be goodbye dividends, hello income taxes. " Senate Bill 21 repeals Alaska's Clear and Equitable Share, the tax system that has been in place since the Palin Administration.

A new group is launching a campaign against the petition to repeal Senate Bill 21, which passed with the idea that it would increase oil production in Alaska. We Are Alaska is an independent expenditure group from the Alaska Support Industry Alliance. The group says its goal is to educate Alaskans about the consequences of signing a petition to reverse SB21. We Are Alaska believes the oil tax law is essential to revive the state's robust oil economy and that the bill will boost investment and production.

Even as some lawmakers have barely had time to unpack their bags after returning from Juneau, a group of Alaskans are trying to repeal a piece of legislation passed on the final day of the 90 day session. "If Senate Bill 21 survives, this state may go bankrupt in a few years,” said repeal organizer Ray Metcalfe.  “If Senate Bill 21 survives, it's very soon going to be goodbye dividends, hello income taxes. " Senate Bill 21 repeals Alaska's Clear and Equitable Share, the tax system that has been in place since the Palin Administration.

Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell has certified a referendum seeking to repeal the oil tax reform bill passed by the Legislature this year, leaving supporters with less than three months to gather enough signatures to put it on the state's 2014 primary ballot. Members of the group Vote Yes, Repeal The Giveaway, which includes elder Alaska statesman Vic Fischer and former Alaska First Lady Bella Hammond, submitted their referendum to stop Senate Bill 21 one week ago to Treadwell's office in Downtown Anchorage's Atwood Building.

A group of Alaskans want to repeal Gov. Sean Parnell's new oil tax legislation, calling it a massive giveaway of Alaska's resources. The move continues a debate on what should be done to improve the state's oil and gas industry. Parnell says the new tax regulations approved by the state Legislature make Alaska much more competitive when it comes to oil development -- but a group called Vote Yes, Repeal The Giveaway says they're bad business and will actually hurt Alaskans. “If we let Senate Bill 21 stand, it will lead to the biggest crash in this state's economy we've ever seen -- it will make (the oil price crash in)

With just five days remaining in the session, the House Finance Committee spent much of Tuesday evening debating Senate Bill 21, Governor Sean Parnell's plan to overhaul oil taxes.  Alaska's Clear and Equitable Share (ACES) was enacted in 2007, under the Palin Administration.  But in the years since, some say ACES has done little to increase oil production in Alaska. "This slowdown is not good for an industry recognized as Alaska's lifeblood,” said Ben Mohr of Eagle River.

On Friday, the Senate Finance Committee continued to put the finishing touches on Governor Sean Parnell's oil tax reform bill or SB21 as it is known in the legislature. "There is a dark cloud moving from the Senate Finance Committee to the floor of the Senate," said Minority Leader Johnny Ellis, D-Anchorage.  Ellis said Democrats will spend the weekend making several amendments to the bill. It was scheduled for a floor vote Friday, however that vote was postponed until next week.

Governor Sean Parnell's oil tax reform bill is facing another round of changes, just weeks after it was altered by the Senate Resources Committee. On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee made several committee substitutes. "The base rate, we did raise it from 25 percent to where the governor had it to 30 percent," said Finance Co-Chairman Senator Kevin Meyer (R-Anchorage). "But reduced it from 35 where resources had it. " Senate Finance also adjusted the percentage of oil excluded from taxes from 30 to 20 percent for ten years covering all new oil production.

As we head into the election season in Alaska, a new debate is gearing up on an old issue: Whether reforming oil taxes in the state will help boost production. The issue has grown more heated as output at the North Slope declines. This month it stands at just 525,000 barrels a day. That's about one quarter as much as the state produced 24 years ago -- at the height of its oil boom. North Slope Production been declining at an average rate of  6 percent a year for the past 5 years.

This Afternoon (Tuesday) a coalition of Alaska business leaders -- and a former Alaska Governor (Tony Knowles) -- got together to endorse "meaningful tax reform" at the North Slope. But the group stopped short of saying precisely what "meaningful tax reform" would entail. The Coalition did say they hoped it would include tax reductions at existing oil fields on the North Slope.  The "Make Alaska Competitive Coalition" contends that oil production at the North Slope is declining, in part, because of the state's tax policy.

A new website unveiled by a special committee in the Alaska State Legislature hopes to educate Alaskans about the state's budget, particularly how much oil revenues play a part in it, and how money is invested. The site , put together by a state house special committee on fiscal policy was announced on Wednesday. In a statement, Rep. Anna Fairclough (R-Eagle River), the chair of the special committee said it's important that Alaskans know where the state's money comes from and how its invested, given the volatile price of oil, declining oil revenue and projections of state budget deficits in the future.