ConcoPhillips Alaska: committed to Alaska.

• Author: Orr, Vanessa
• Position: SPECIAL SECTION: ALASKA BUSINESS MONTHLY'S 2011 CORPORATE 100

For more than 50 years, the State of Alaska and ConocoPhillips have worked together to develop the region's natural resources and to create economic opportunities. And while the last two decades have seen a decrease in the production of oil and natural gas, the company remains committed to the state and its future.

"There is still a lot of oil left in Alaska, on the North Slope in particular," said Trond-Erik Johansen, president, ConocoPhillips Alaska. "From a job standpoint, Alaska has many exciting opportunities, but it also faces many challenges. But I am convinced that by working together--the industry and the State--we should be able to tackle these challenges and unlock new potential."

As the largest oil and gas producer in the state, ConocoPhillips had a net production of 230,000 barrels of oil per day in 2010, and averaged 82 million cubic feet of gas per day. The company has a major ownership interest in two of North America's largest oil fields on the North Slope; Kuparuk, which it operates, and Prudhoe Bay. It also operates the Alpine oil field on the western North Slope.

COOK INLET GAS

"In Alaska, all of our gas interests are in the Cook Inlet area, including the offshore Tyonek platform and the onshore Beluga River natural gas field," Johansen said. "Most of that gas is delivered locally, though some is exported through our Kenai Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facility."

The company, which is headquartered in Anchorage, is also a 28 percent owner in the trans-Alaska oil pipeline system and a 50 percent owner in Denali--The Gas Pipeline Project.

In 2010, ConocoPhillips decided to shut down the Kenai LNG plant after 40 years of operation after shipments end in roughly mid- to late-May.

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"We are not dismantling the plant; we are putting it into 'mothball mode,'" Johansen said. "We will preserve and maintain it, so that when an opportunity arises for import or possibly export, it can be reopened."

ConocoPhillips began exploratory drilling in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) in 9008, and also obtained 98 lease blocks covering more than 550,000 acres in the Chukchi Sea. While the company has currently stopped exploration projects in the NPR-A, Johansen said they do have plans to drill in the Chukchi in approximately two years.

"In the past, we did exploration work in the NPR-A area, but we chose not to continue that work last year, and don't plan to work there again this year for two reasons," Johansen...