New Finds, New Players, New Optimism: Light at the end of the recession.

• Author: Snipe, O'Hara

In January 2018, the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation (AEDC) projected that after an enduring economic recession, things were beginning to look up for the oil and gas sector. One year later, it appears AEDC's forecasts were correct. Bolstered by new legislation, new discoveries, and increased levels of production, 2018 was a fairly fruitful year for the oil and gas Optimism regarding Alaska's slow crawl out of recession began at the end of 2017 with the federal government's decision to open the 1002 Area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas leasing. The decision-included as a provision in the passage of the federal tax overhaul bill--was a major milestone in Alaska's long history of oil exploration.

"This is a watershed moment for Alaska and all of America," US Senator Lisa Murkowski remarked in a December 2017 press release. "We have fought to open the 1002 Area for a very long time, and now our day has finally arrived." Her sentiment was echoed by US Representative Don Young, who noted that he has advocated opening ANWR for the last thirty-seven years.

Although the 1002 Area is just one ten-thousandth of all of ANWR's total acreage, it has the potential to bring an estimated 10.4 billion barrels of oil to market. According to Alaska Oil and Gas Association (AOGA) President and CEO Kara Moriarty, production is about ten to fifteen years away. However, in April 2018, the Bureau of Land Management said that it was beginning to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for a teasing program in the 1002 Area.

A Tale of Two Port MacKenzies

Choosing the ideal site for the Alaska LNG terminal proved controversial in 2018. Federal law requires that an EIS consider not only the applicant's preferred construction plans but also any economical or environmentally-friendly alternatives. Determining the best terminal location is key for Alaska LNG to move forward. With so much at stake, it is of little surprise that discussions between the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC), the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, and the Kenai Peninsula Borough went back and forth all year.

In 2017 FERC ordered AGDC to evaluate Port MacKenzie in the Mat-Su Borough as an alternative location for the terminal of the Alaska LNG pipeline. AGDC complied, but in January 2018 the borough filed a complaint with FERC noting that AGDC had misidentified Port MacKenzie and subsequently evaluated the wrong location. AGDC turned its efforts toward the evaluation of the correction location of Port MacKenzie, and after several months of...