Alaska’s Governor Bill Walker has proposed to use US$10 million previously earmarked for a seismic study of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to update the state’s archaic 911 system. The state administration last month asked the legislature for US$10 million to start a seismic survey campaign in the ANWR aimed at encouraging oil and gas companies to consider bidding for the acreage to be offered under the new tax law approved at the end of last year. Alaska is currently struggling with a budget crisis, and allocating the scarce available resources is proving to be a tough task. The state has also seen a consistent decline in its oil production. The Energy Information Administration has projected that the state will produce an average 500,000 bpd next year. That’s down from 2.09 million bpd 30 years ago—a fact which has caused new exploration to be a top priority. Opening up […]