ANWR

Any knowledge of whether the people of Kaktovik want drilling or not?

lots of good info on the website you link.

Yes Will, they do want to drill in the area they have. BUT since they onlyhave the surface rights, it isn't anytime soon they are going to be able to drill.

Also, and how other oil companies do it. KIC can actually rent out the land to the Oil Compnaies for whatever the need is... but then you have to have Congress open up ANWR.

I will blog some more on this in a day or so.

I actually interviewed for a job in Kaktovik at a teacher fair in Fairbanks in September of 1996. I was very taken with Alaska (at least the Fairbanks area) and would love to live there. That seems pretty unfair that they could have rights on the surface but not under it. Big shock there, Government is unfair.

I live in Fairbanks, my husband has worked the oil patch and we have a friend who is a geologist who gets absolutely excited when talking about the topography of ANWR. Without exploration, just having flown over it on his way to Kaktovik, he is convinced there's a HUGE amount of oil and gas there -- many times that of the original Prudhoe find. Of course, there's never been any actual verifiable oil and gas studies done. It's just the impression of many geologists who are extremely familiar with Alaska who think the find will be enormous against the word of geologists who are government vetted.

It should also be known by anyone who is interested that no Alaskan owns their subsurface mineral rights. We only own the surface. So, if I find oil on my property, I can't drill for it. If I find gold on my property, I can't mine it. I can ask for a permit, but I will stand in line with anyone else who wants the permit and I had better own land in a region that allows mining or oil development. If the feds want to sell the subsurface rights to another party, that party can come to me and ask to lease my surface. If I chose not to lease my surface, they own a useless permit, or they can drill sideways from some other property that is willing to lease and my subsurface minerals are gone.

This is all because Alaska in the territorial days signed a statehood compact that gave the federal government our subsurface mineral rights.

The largest issue, however, is that the federal government has refused to allow even exploration of ANWR so that there is no way we know the potential. The enviro-nuts won't allow even that knowledge because they're afraid we'll actually drill someday.

what a horrible thing to sign away mineral rights to become a state. What horrible frustration to not have the right to use the subsurface resources of land you own. This is a states vs federal rights issue that would shock the founders.

Aurora, actually... the only people who can have mineral rights are those the State deemed homesteaders. I know quite a few people who actually have the mineral rights to the family lands.

The one thing I know you have to "get a permit" for is water on undeveloped land and to drill a well. Drilling for water, depending on the part of the State but we will say Glennallen, can almost be hazardous to your health. Only due to the fact if you drill deep enough, you might hit a methane gas pocket. And then you have to get a permit for the water rights (hopefully you have a pool or a underwater creek) due to usage and what the expectations may be on the usage.

Even water is concidered a Mineral in this state, which most people don't realize. There are a few people or organizations that own the rights, but that is still few and far between.


As for you friend who is the geologist. What type is he? And with him never going out to ANWR to even do a soil composition break down, where does he get his evidense? USGS and their very limited Logs and Well Files. Or someone who is inside the BLM, which is actually a breach of contract for whoever the BLM employee is due to the fact ANWR is concidered confidential still.

Kaktokik can drill on thier lands, to a point. They want the Methane to heat their houses. Do you see a problem with that since the people of Kuukpik Corp aka Nuiqsut village do the same thing with Alpine? I do not... WOuld be kinda of cold if they didn't have that viable resource.

No, my friend is a petroleum geologist (there's a term for it, but I'm stuck for it, right now). He has flown to Kaktovik several times because his adopted daughter has family there. So, he knows what he's looking at as he flies over the landscape. He gets really mad that we haven't even been allowed to test drill for the most part. He envisions a day when our backs are to the wall and Congress will be shocked, SHOCKED, to realize that exploration takes decades before you can even hope to bring the product to market.

I have no problem with villages using the resources they own. I am aware of homesteading, but would note that those almost always are on lands that date back to frontier days. For the rest of us, frequently, there is no availability to make use of our subsurface minerals. Also, I'm told by some homesteaders that the theory doesn't really match the practice in many areas of the state. The environmental regulations prevent them from actually making use of the resources.

Aurora, actually they can drill on their own property but the problem is even if it isn their they still have to get all the same permits and bonds that a regular oil company needs to get to do exploration or drilling of any sort. If they do not have the money, what is the point right? They can also go in with a producer but that doesn't mean the producer will want to do anything. Kind of a catch 22.

As for Geology... yes I undersand. He is looking at the slopes and the curves, kinda like on a topo map. What he may see though is not oil but pingo's that aren't totally developed. As a friend of mine said, the best way to find out is look for the ugliest area. And you are correct.. he could be a petroleum geologist.. there are many types of geologists though. I work in the field as well.