Exciting Times for Alaska Energy: Pikka Project Now Reaching First Oil

Whenever some proposed new oil or natural gas project is under discussion, the refrain from the left, environmentalists, and climate scolds (but I repeat myself threefold), as part of their objection, proclaim "but no new oil/gas will be extracted for (insert number) of years," as though, because of that, we should just throw up our hands and buy more solar panels.

Yes, developing a new oil or natural gas resource takes time. No project on this scale starts producing overnight. But now we are seeing one that has started producing, and this is the desired result: Alaska's new North Slope Pikka field is about to start producing oil, and soon.

When the Pikka oil and gas field was discovered in 2013, industry leaders hailed it as the beginning of a renaissance on the North Slope that would extend the life of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline. Now, more than a decade later, the first sellable oil is expected to come from that field soon.
In anticipation, Santos, the company that operates the field, hosted a tour of the facility this week for journalists. Alaska Public Media’s Wesley Early was one of them and discussed it with Alaska News Nightly Host Casey Grove.

Note that timeframe: More than a decade in exploring, analyzing, building up resources, drilling, and now we're getting salable quantities of oil. Black gold. Texas tea. This is good for American energy independence. An increase in supply will, in time, moderate prices, and oil prices right now are high, mostly because of the ongoing tensions in the Middle East. But if anything, this should serve as a warning to the rest of the world that relying on that one source for energy is no longer a great idea. It should also serve as a notice that, in the global energy market, America is again open for business.

This isn't just good for the United States or the global energy markets. It's good for Alaska.

As we all know, the state government gets the lion’s share of its revenue from oil taxes, royalties and fees, and Pikka is expected to contribute billions to the state over its lifespan. Here’s Joe Balash, a senior VP for external affairs at Santos.
“We expect, in this next year, you know, on a conservative oil price, we'll be contributing somewhere around $250 million to the treasury, and over the life of the project, it gets closer to $7 billion,” he said.
Balash’s name might sound familiar. He’s a former state revenue commissioner and was the Assistant Interior Secretary for Land and Minerals during the first Trump administration. The job with Santos is Balash’s first foray into the private sector, and he says he’s hopeful that the first phase of the Pikka project – which, again, is supposed to bring in $7 billion over its lifespan – will lead to more exploration in the NPR-A.

Much of the state's budget here in the Great Land comes from oil and gas revenue, and many of the North Slope jobs created go to the local Native communities, who, without oil and gas field jobs, wouldn't have much to do. That's what, back in the day, we used to call a win-win.

Trump Approves New Canada/USA Oil Pipeline, and Not Everyone Is Happy About It

We are seeing something of an energy renaissance on the North Slope, but fortunately, it's not limited to Alaska. We're seeing an energy renaissance in America, from the Permian Basin to Prudhoe Bay, and yes, this is precisely what we voted for.

Editor's Note: The Democrat Party has never been less popular as voters reject its globalist agenda.

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