AOGA panel: arctic opportunities: the vision for a favorable place to do business.

• Author: Anderson, Tasha
• Position: SPECIAL SECTION: Arctic Oil & Gas

On May 25, AOGA (Alaska Oil and Gas Association) held its 50th Anniversary Celebration & Conference, commemorating both AOGA's history and the history of the oil and gas industry in Alaska. The conference featured several excellent panels, including "Arctic Opportunities," moderated by Tara Sweeney, Chair of the Arctic Economic Council.

The panel was comprised of Thomas Mack, President of Aleut Corporation; Matt Ganley, VP of Media and External Affairs for Being Straits Native Corporation; and Lance Miller, VP of Natural Resources for NANA Regional Corporation. Below are excerpts from the panel.

Sweeney: The Arctic Economic Council's vision is to make the Arctic a favorable place to do business. From your corporation's perspective, how do you think we can achieve that vision?

Mack: My position of President of the Aleut Corporation, has given me the honor to represent what is known as Aleut International Association as an indigenous member on the Arctic Economic Council. I also sit on the governance board for the Arctic Economic Council, and I helped formulate the foundational documents ... which are the Rules of Procedure, our three year strategic plan, and our membership structure.

So the Rules of Procedure are kind of like our bylaws that we need to give to corporate America. So this council has provided the very platform, set the groundwork, to begin the work of making the Arctic a favorable place to do business on an international level.

The Aleut Corporation's perspective on doing business in the Arctic is that it is a favorable place to do it today. The Aleut Corporation's 1.5 million acre sub-surface estate and our 77,000 acres of surface estate are all located in the Aleutian Pribilof Island region. The Aleut Region is considered an integral part of the Arctic, defined by the US Arctic Research and Policy Act. For that reason, we live and breathe doing business in the Arctic every day. We have several active ports in our region that do business with US companies and international companies today. These ports contribute to Alaska being the number one producer of seafood in this country.

I also believe that educating others on the Arctic and the business potential is essential. And again the Arctic Economic Council is an excellent venue to do just that.

Ganley: Bering Straits Native Corporation lies on the Bering Strait, it's all in the name. And 1 think what we see developing in the Arctic in the last five to seven years with regard to people looking north--and with the annual sea ice diminishing--we see the potential, if not soon, at some point in time, with increased intercontinental shipping through the Bering Strait. Our communities own the coastline within Bering Strait: our communities within Bering Straits Native Corporation and our position in those lanes of future commerce is very critical, very important to the long-term health of the region and the Arctic in general. One of the things that we all take for granted in the regional corporation day-to-day activities is that there's a pretty high level of competition between the regional corporations. It's natural, they're corporations, they're for-profit, we're often involved in the same businesses. But as Thomas spoke to some of the organizations that are developing to reach across those boundaries, were doing the same thing a little farther north in the sub-Arctic and high-Arctic.

An organization was formed called IABA, the Inuit Arctic Business Alliance. NANA, North Slope, and Bering...