Good news for Southcentral: Apache shines like the midnight sun.

• Author: Cutler, Debbie
• Position: From the Editor

As I was thinking about what I was going to write about this month, a press release from U.S. Sen. Mark Begich landed in my inbox titled "TAPS Low Flow Study Provides Wakeup Call for Alaska Industry."

Basically, we have 10 years left of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, based on the current rate of decline.

"With about 80 percent of State revenue and some of Alaska's best private-sector jobs riding on the oil pipeline, its continued operation is obviously a top priority for our state," Begich stated on June 29. "If we don't act quickly to get more oil in the pipeline, that could go away in just a decade. That's why I'm aggressively pushing for approval of more oil and gas development on federal lands and in federal waters."

While doom and gloom may be the voice of the North Slope, there is optimism in other parts of the state. Of note is an ABM article posted on our website June 28 titled "Significant Natural Gas Resources Remain to Be Discovered in Cook Inlet, Alaska."

GREAT NEWS FOR COOK INLET

Cook Inlet, it appears, holds far more natural gas reserves than previously predicted--about 19 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas and 600 million undiscovered barrels of oil and 46 million barrels of natural gas liquids, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. And lease sales in the area jumped considerably, with 110 bids, 91 of which came from Apache Alaska Corp.

Even though we've written about Apache as a newcomer to the state, I Googled the company to see their most recent press releases, and instead of getting its website, more exciting news: "Apache Corp. has eyes for Alaska," "Apache Alaska Corp. Snatches Up Lion's Share of Cook Inlet Leases," "Apache Big Winner," "Apache Dominates Largest Cook Inlet Sales in Years," and so on and so on.

With 75 percent of our nation saying the U.S. is not doing enough to...