KEEP Alaska Competitive

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KEEP Alaska Competitive

KEEP Alaska Competitive works to promote fair and stable taxes on Alaska’s resource industries.

KEEP Alaska Competitive is a non-profit organization composed of individual Alaskans, Alaska Native organization, businesses and labor groups who support a competitive and balanced oil tax policy that increases investment, oil production and jobs to secure Alaska’s future.

10/01/2026

TAPS owners aren’t waiting to see whether the North Slope stays busy. They’re already filing to keep the export line authorized for decades.

Alyeska Pipeline Service Company recently applied to renew the Trans Alaska Pipeline System right-of-way for another 30 years.

The filing to the Bureau of Land Management and the Alaska Department of Natural Resources is a forward-looking move to keep in place the infrastructure that carries North Slope crude to market and will be needed for both today’s production and future development.

TAPS has safely moved Alaska oil for nearly 50 years, Alyeska said, and the company describes the existing system as ready for the next 50. The renewal would authorize continued operation of the pipeline already in the ground, not a new line. Alyeska is following established federal and state processes, including environmental review and a public-comment period.

For North Slope operators, a durable right-of-way is foundational. Without a functioning export system, oil from producing fields and from projects still ahead cannot reach tidewater. A 30-year term would give producers, the state, and communities a long planning horizon for maintenance, throughput, and new barrels that depend on TAPS remaining available.

In that sense, the application is less a paperwork milestone than a commitment to maintain the backbone of Alaska’s oil transportation network well into the coming decades, supporting current output and the next chapter of North Slope resource development.

Read more here: alyeska-pipe.com/alyeska-submits-application-for-trans-alaska-pipeline-system-right-of-way-renewal/

09/29/2026

Alaska’s July 2026 employment report showed a mixed statewide picture, but oil and gas was a clear source of growth. The state had 2,100 fewer jobs than in July 2025, a 0.6% decline driven by government losses. The private sector still edged higher, and oil and gas added 800 jobs over the year.

That gain is the jobs side of expanding North Slope activity. As operators increase work on producing fields and new development, they add drill-site crews, maintenance staff, and oil-field support contractors. Those hires register in the statewide oil and gas count even as other industries slipped. Manufacturing, mainly seafood processing, was down 1,000 jobs. Construction lost 700, professional and business services 500, and retail 300.

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities added 1,200 jobs, health care 400, and leisure and hospitality 200. Federal employment fell by 1,300 and state government by 1,000. Alaska’s unemployment rate was 4.3%.

The 800 additional oil and gas jobs show North Slope expansion continuing to put Alaskans to work while the broader payroll picture remains uneven.

Full statistics here: https://labor.alaska.gov/news/2026/news26-16.htm

09/25/2026

You can see it in the numbers:
13,895,025 BBLS April
14,028,811 BBLS May – Pikka begins production
13,403,953 BBLS June
14,091,625 BBLS July
14,191,436 BBLS August – Coyote starts production

A slow, but steady increase through spring and summer and then a shot of adrenaline from ConocoPhillips’ Coyote development, followed by a major boost once Pikka’s seawater injection plant came online. Santos' current water injection is around 40,000 barrels per day, targeting plateau production of approximately 80,000 barrels of oil per day at the end of the third quarter of 2026.

Santos Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Kevin Gallagher said seawater injection marked a significant step on the path to plateau production. "Seawater injection is a critical step in unlocking Pikka's production capacity. With pressure support now established and wells coming online progressively, we continue to target plateau production rates at the end of the third quarter of 2026.”
More here. https://www.petroleumnews.com/story/2026/09/06/e-and-p/oil-output-soars/50338.html

It took $22 BILLION in new industry investment to kickstart the new renaissance now sweeping across on Alaska’s North Slope. While we cannot control many of the challenges Arctic operations bring, we can maintain fair and stable tax policies that attract the capital needed to keep our resource industries healthy so they can produce jobs and revenues for Alaskans.

09/19/2026

Producing more oil is one part of keeping Alaska competitive. Finding ways to do it more efficiently matters, too.

Santos says its drilling program at Pikka is consistently beating established technical limits, reducing both the time and cost required to drill new wells.

That’s significant as Pikka ramps toward approximately 80,000 barrels per day.

Every improvement in drilling performance helps strengthen the economics of operating on Alaska’s North Slope, where projects must compete for investment against energy opportunities around the world.

Better technology, experienced crews and continually improving performance can help make Alaska resources more competitive while supporting continued production, jobs and throughput for TAPS.

Pikka is delivering new barrels today while its operators continue working to make tomorrow’s barrels more efficient to produce.

09/16/2026

A single well. A $180 million investment. And the potential to roughly double production at Point Thomson.

Hilcorp Alaska is advancing the first new production well drilled at Point Thomson in roughly a decade, part of a major effort to increase output from the remote eastern North Slope field.

The new gas and condensate production well is expected to help increase Point Thomson’s liquid condensate production from roughly 4,000 barrels per day toward approximately 10,000 barrels per day.

Getting there is no simple task.

Doyon Drilling’s Rig 15 had to be barged to Point Thomson from the Nikaitchuq field. The remote field can be reached by air year-round, by sea during the summer and by a seasonal ice road — infrastructure and logistics that demonstrate the scale of investment required to produce energy on the North Slope.

Point Thomson is also one of Alaska’s largest known natural gas resources. Because there is no North Slope gas pipeline today, produced gas is reinjected underground while liquid condensate is transported to market.

Major investment in existing fields can unlock new production, extend the value of Alaska’s infrastructure and put additional barrels into TAPS.

PHOTO CREDIT: Exxon Mobil

09/14/2026

A piece of TAPS history is coming down.

Nearly 50 years after the Trans Alaska Pipeline System began carrying North Slope oil, Alyeska Pipeline Service Company is dismantling much of the original Pump Station 8 complex south of Fairbanks.

Pump Station 8 received its first oil on July 7, 1977. The next day, tragedy struck when an explosion and fire destroyed the pump building and killed one worker.

The station was rebuilt and returned to service in March 1978. By the time its main pumping operations ended in June 1996, TAPS had transported its 11 billionth barrel of oil and more than 14,000 tankers had been loaded in Valdez.

Parts of Pump Station 8 continued serving TAPS in the decades that followed, and some essential infrastructure will remain even as much of the original complex is removed.

It’s a reminder of how much Alaska’s energy infrastructure has changed since 1977, and of the generations of people who built, operated, maintained and continually improved the 800-mile pipeline that connects the North Slope to the world.

Nearly five decades later, TAPS remains one of the most important pieces of infrastructure in Alaska.

READ MORE: https://alyeska-pipe.com/retiring-taps-history-at-pump-station-8/

09/11/2026

Want to see how much is happening across Alaska’s North Slope? There’s a new map for that.

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil and Gas has released its June 2026 North Slope Oil and Gas Activity Map, offering an updated look at exploration, development and infrastructure across one of America’s most important energy regions.

Among its features, the map identifies oil and gas exploration well locations completed in 2024, 2025 and 2026, along with current unit boundaries, highways and the Trans Alaska Pipeline System.

Taken together, the map provides a striking picture of the renaissance under way on the North Slope that will help identify Alaska’s next generation of resources.

Today’s exploration creates the possibilities for tomorrow’s production.

READ MORE: https://www.petroleumnews.com/story/2026/03/01/news/dnr-releases-north-slope-oandg-activity-map/41250.html

09/08/2026

It was an upbeat Ryan Lance who addressed AOGA’s annual conference last week, just days before retiring after four decades with ConocoPhillips. Lance began his Alaska career with ARCO in 1984 and went on to lead ConocoPhillips as CEO, keeping Alaska’s North Slope a strategic priority at a time when many major oil companies were stepping away from exploration in the state.

“Working in the Arctic is a privilege,” not only in exploration, but in its communities and the people who live and work here, he said, as he thanked a long list of mentors and organizations who made him “a better person, a better producer, a better oilman.” Those include ARCO, ASRC, Kuukpik, and Keep’s founder and co-chair Jim Jansen.

Lance said he was proud of ConocoPhillips’ work in the Arctic and on having meaningful engagement with the people who know the land best. He commented on the uniqueness of the area: “We have a connectivity problem, not a resource problem.” Permitting is a good example, he said. Willow took five to six years to permit but only four to build despite short construction seasons.

He referred to the March lease sale that drew a record number of companies all looking to the west, to their new future.

“Willow is the next chapter. Construction is halfway done. When it’s complete, it will be the largest construction in the past 20 years. This year, two bridges were completed. The permanent camp and medical clinic are done. More than 2,000 people were employed this year in our $9 billion investment.”

“We are setting the standard for the world.”

PHOTO CREDIT: ConocoPhillips Alaska

09/06/2026

In just a few months, Pikka has gone from a construction project to producing North Slope oil headed to market.

Santos’ latest half-year results highlight just how quickly the company’s Alaska project has progressed:

First oil was achieved safely in May. Continuous production began in June. The first Pikka crude cargo was lifted in August.

Now production is building toward approximately 80,000 barrels per day at plateau, targeted for late in the third quarter.

Santos also reports that its Pikka drilling program is consistently beating technical limits, reducing the time and cost required to drill wells.

That progression matters for Alaska. Efficient, competitive projects attract investment, support jobs and contractors, generate revenues and put new barrels into the Trans Alaska Pipeline System.

Pikka is no longer a promise about future North Slope production. It’s producing today and continuing to ramp up.

09/03/2026

Congratulations to the people, projects and partnerships recognized with the 2026 Alaska Oil and Gas Association Industry Awards.

This year’s honorees represent many of the things that keep Alaska’s energy industry moving forward — innovation, environmental stewardship, safety, workforce development and long-term leadership.

Santos received Project of the Year for Environmental Stewardship and Innovation for Pikka Phase 1, recognizing a development that combines advanced engineering with efforts to reduce its surface footprint and work collaboratively with local communities.

The Yukon River Responders Program, a partnership between Alyeska Pipeline Service Company and residents of Rampart and Stevens Village, received Contractor of the Year for Safety Performance.

ConocoPhillips Alaska engineer Madeline Woodard received the Rising Star Award for her technical leadership and work developing the next generation of industry professionals.

And Alaska Support Industry Alliance CEO Rebecca Logan received the Marilyn Crockett Lifetime Achievement Award after nearly 16 years leading the organization and advocating for Alaska’s oil and gas support sector.

We salute this year’s honorees and the people throughout Alaska’s energy industry whose work makes these achievements possible.

READ MORE: https://www.akbizmag.com/industry/oil-gas/aoga-announces-2026-industry-award-winners/

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