Most conversations about oil and gas, refined or otherwise, require context to fully understand or find a resolution to an issue. “Gasline on Wheels,” for example, looks at how natural gas produced as a byproduct on the North Slope will finally get exported to another market. That market is the Interior, so it’s not quite as far from the Alaska Arctic as some have envisioned, but it’s still a milestone for an industry that’s been reinjecting a perfectly good commodity back into the ground for decades. Has the funding for a massive LNG export project finally come through? No. But it may just be that this step in monetizing North Slope gas will lead to fully utilizing the potential of gas in Prudhoe Bay down the road. Literally.
But oil and gas development is never rushed in Alaska, and the effects of oil and gas activities on Alaska’s economic development are equally long-lived. In “Hydrocarbons Pave the Way for Pick.Click.Give.” we look at just how oil royalties laid the foundation for a statewide charitable giving program that now provides millions of dollars to Alaska nonprofits every year.
To round out this special section, we also include an article on Pantheon’s oil discovery and a look at Hilcorp’s plans for 2023 in Cook Inlet. North Slope enthusiasts can check out our update on North Slope activity and, in their 2023 debut, our North Slope Operating Unit Baseball Cards. Like our nation’s talented athletes, it’s worth knowing the stats of the operations that drive much of our state’s economy.