Palin's high energy week

Office of the Governor of the State of Alaska ^ | 05-12-09 | Gov. Sarah Palin

[euram]

Chugach Electric and CP Sign Gas Contract Governor Welcomed the “Excellent News” FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 09-118

Chugach Electric Association, ConocoPhillips Sign Gas Contract

May 13, 2009, Juneau, Alaska - Governor Sarah Palin today welcomed the “excellent news” that Chugach Electric Association and ConocoPhillips have contracted to satisfy Chugach’s unmet natural gas needs into 2011. This resolves a dispute over the two-year extension of the export license for the liquefied natural gas facility at Kenai operated by ConocoPhillips and Marathon Oil.

“This is a big victory for consumers, who are facing huge energy challenges,” Governor Palin said.

The contract, which was filed this afternoon with the Regulatory Commission of Alaska, continues through 2016. It is intended to avert all of Chugach’s projected gas shortfall through June 2011, half of the shortfall thereafter through December 2015, and about 25 percent in 2016.

In signing the contract for 66 billion cubic feet of gas, ConocoPhillips has satisfied the final provision of the 2008 Kenai LNG settlement agreement among ConocoPhillips, Marathon Oil, and the State of Alaska. Chugach Electric says that it will now withdraw its objection before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

“I want to acknowledge the contribution of several state personnel who played a key role in mediating this important contract,” Governor Palin said. “This will allow Chugach to continue supplying electricity to the Railbelt, as operations continue at the Kenai LNG plant.”

The export license will expire in 2011.

Palin Encouraged by U.S. Interior Action to Limit Impact of Court Ruling on Oil & Gas Printer Friendly

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 09-116

Governor Encouraged by U.S. Interior’s Move on Off-Shore Drilling

May 12, 2009, Anchorage, Alaska - Governor Sarah Palin said today she’s encouraged that federal officials are seeking to limit the impact of a court ruling that puts off-shore oil and gas leasing and exploration on hold.

The Department of Justice has asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for clarification that its April ruling on off-shore drilling does not invalidate existing leases issued under the 2007–2012 five-year program for the Outer Continental Shelf.

In urging federal government lawyers to pursue that clarification, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar noted that the court’s action in vacating the program came two years after leasing began. Salazar said problems the court says it found with the Bush administration’s scientific and environmental analysis could be addressed going forward, rather than forcing the department to invalidate leases already granted and to develop an entirely new five-year program.

Governor Palin said this could mean good news for Alaska, which is facing a freeze on the federal leasing program for oil and gas reserves in the Beaufort, Bering and Chukchi seas.

“This action suggests that Secretary Salazar is attempting to eliminate confusion and uncertainty in the oil and gas industry, and this gives us hope that the Obama administration will take steps toward achieving energy independence for America,” the governor said.

In the Chukchi Sea, Interior already has issued 487 leases under the five-year program set aside by the court ruling. The net economic benefits of the one billion barrels of oil in the Chukchi are estimated by the U.S. Minerals Management Service at $6.37 billion.

To read the brief filed today by the Department of Justice on behalf of the Department of the Interior, click on the following link: http://www.doi.gov/news/09_News_Releases/PFR_as_filed.pdf

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[IcedAmerican]

Palin seems to get more done for Americans in Alaska than the entire congress gets done to American in DC.

Love that Lady...