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Fish harvesters net $657.6 million Alaska fish harvesters netted $657.6 million in payment by processors and other purchasers during the 2019 summer salmon season, according to preliminary Dept. of Fish and Game data. The preliminary total is 10 percent over 2018 payments with sockeye salmon accounting for the increase. Sockeye payments to harvesters accounted for $421 million, or about two-thirds, of the total. The figure will be updated next spring when final post-season payments to fishermen are included.

Roadless rule lifted for Tongass? Trilogy Metals reported exploration results at its Sunshine prospect in the Ambler Minerals District with five of six bore-holes drilled showing copper concentrations of over 2 percent. Company officials said the ore grades and width of mineralized areas are similar to Trilogy’s nearby Arctic project, a high-grade copper accumulation. The company is now in an advanced stage of development planning at Arctic. Trilogy is also exploring Bornite, a large but lower-grade copper deposit west of…

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Oil Search on track at Pikka Oil Search Alaska told the state Department of Natural Resources that it is on track for a Final Investment Decision with its partner, Repsol, on its Pikka project in late 2020 (late October is reported) and that final engineering, permitting and other planning, as well as more drilling, will be underway this winter. However, Oil Search has not yet reached an access agreement with Kuukpik Corp, the owner of surface lands in the project…

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Four percent wage growth fueled by higher oil, construction jobs A 4.0 increase in total Alaska wage payments in the first half of 2019 can be attributed mainly to job growth in high-wage industries like petroleum and construction, state labor economists say. Most industries showed growth in wages paid but most were about on par with the 2.6 percent inflation rate, meaning no increase in real earnings. Wage payments grew 3.3 percent in Anchorage; 3.2 percent in Fairbanks and 0.5…

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Fully-funded PFDs, schools, roads ‑ motherhood and apple pie Now that the question has been approved by Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer, signature-gatherers are out in front of retail stores with petitions to place a proposition increasing oil taxes on the November, 2020 general election ballot. We asked several people gathering signatures how the $1 billion to $1.5-billion-per-year oil tax increase would be used. Most said for infrastructure, roads and education but all said to “fully-fund” the Permanent Fund Dividend, essentially…

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$25 million grant for Anchorage port The Municipality of Anchorage received a $25 million federal grant toward its Port of Alaska reconstruction but the grant won’t initially reduce new tariffs for its new petroleum products and cement terminal. Building of that facility is to be underway next summer (piling and other components are now being fabricated) at an initial phase cost of $42.2 million. The estimated ultimate cost of the new petroleum and cement terminal is estimated at about $215…

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Angoon charters its own ferry Angoon village in Southeast Alaska is in discussions with Juneau-based Goldbelt, Inc. to charter a catamaran vessel owned by Goldbelt to provide passenger ferry service. The Alaska Marine Highway System was to offer very limited winter ferry service to small Southeast communities including Angoon, on Admiralty Island, but has had to roll that back when budget constraints prevented scheduled maintenance on vessels that would have provided the service. The City and Angoon Community Association may…

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Solar power cheaper than gas Renewable IPP, a startup, began operations at its 1.2 megawatt solar energy facility on a 17-acre tract near Wasilla in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley. The company had earlier built a 140-kilowatt pilot project. Construction of the $1.5 million project was half-financed with private investment and half from the Alaska Energy Authority’s power project revolving loan fund, which helps finance power development. Matanuska Electric Association signed a 30-year contract to buy power at 5 to 6 cents…

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Health care providers are closely watching Juneau for signals on whether Gov. Mike Dunleavy will request a needed supplemental appropriation to cover $160 million in shortfalls in the state Medicaid program. The tab may be higher by $10 million to $20 million if there are higher rates of medical services use than expected. There will be other supplemental needs too, such as to cover state costs on last summer’s wildfires. That is estimated at $50 million at the low end….

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ConocoPhillips’ share is $15 billion–$17 billion; company seeks partner Explorers keep finding more oil on the North Slope, and companies see about $24 billion in new investments possible in the next decade. ConocoPhillips’ share of this could be $15 billion to $17 billion for its own new projects, a hefty chunk for a company that size. This has caused ConocoPhillips to spread the burden, and the risk, to look for an investor to take 25 percent of its Alaska assets…

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