Single Page
Statoil opens Anchorage officeNorwegian oil giant Statoil is opening an office in Anchorage next week. The company is moving ahead with its offshore work and will now have people on the ground here to spearhead that effort. Ken Boyd, a former state Division of Oil and Gas director and Statoil's primary consultant in Alaska, says half a dozen people will be working out of the new digs in the JL Tower, on Centerpoint Drive near 40th and C Street. "It's a bit barebones," he says. "But this is the opening salvo; we won't drill for a couple of years." Statoil is a player in the Chukchi Sea, where it carried out some seismic work last summer. This summer, the company is doing some "site clearance" work -- basically checking the seafloor to make sure it is stable enough for a drilling rig -- on leases it holds in the area. The office will be open for business Wednesday, Boyd says. Contact Patti Epler at patti(at)alaskadispatch.com.
Kind of flies in the face of what we have been told. Yes, Norway is a socialist country, yet they permit private entrepreneurial behavior by their state owned corporations. How does this work? How can they succeed under that system of government? Sounds as if there is a future for oil development on our state, federal lands and waters. So where is the massive closure of our oil industry as predicted by those who claim we must sacrifice more? Yeah, chicken little, just as I thought. The Norwegians have been vastly more successful at developing their oil than we have been, so no surprises here, Gomer. |
Comments