Welcome to 2019... Year of Recovery?

• Author: Mackenzie, Kathryn
• Position: FROM THE EDITOR - Editorial

We've finally reached 2019; the year that is supposed to mark a real reversal for Alaska's economy. Talk of a 2019 turnaround was already weaving its way throughout the business community at this time last year, but some serious oil and gas investments combined with favorable legislative moves have turned talk into action and, we hope, results.

We're already seeing positive signals coming from the oil and gas sector. Alaska held a record-breaking land lease sale late in 2018, netting $28.1 million from oil and gas lease sales in the North Slope and the Beaufort Sea. A 2018 study from London-based global information provider, IHS Markit, reports that the North Slope is expected to emerge again as a major US energy source. "We expect development in the basin to continue to be driven by commercial masters ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil [as well as] challengers Oil Search and Hilcorp," says Kareemah Mohamed, associate director of plays and basins research at IHS Markit.

ConocoPhillips, Brooks Range Petroleum, Oil Search, Hilcorp, and BP have each made moves recently that signal they are ready to begin investing, exploring, and developing again. Check out the 2019 Oil and Gas Forecast and 2019 Economic Forecast articles in this issue.

A sign of any economy's health is often the level of education attained by its workforce. Whether it's oil and gas, healthcare, tourism, mining, or all of the above, the more one knows about his or her given career path, the better for everyone involved...