A section of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline in the northern Brooks Range, Alaska. A $3.5 billion budget gap prompts tough action by lawmakers Drillers say the changes threaten North Slope momentum Four decades after unlocking America’s biggest oilfield, Alaska and its drillers are drifting apart. Facing a $3.5 billion budget gap, state lawmakers narrowly voted in June to trim tax subsidies that have saved oil and gas explorers almost $1 billion a year since 2007. Governor Bill Walker followed that by freezing $430 million in rebates, and proposing more stringent cutbacks that could be approved as early as next year. State officials say they have little choice, given the drop in oil prices and a flagging state economy. Drillers on the North Slope, the vast Arctic expanse that once led U.S. oil production and still generates a half-million barrels a day, say the policies threaten a nascent turnaround for the […]