From Elizabeth Bluemink --

A new academic paper says Alaska's economy would be half as big as it is today if oil had never been discovered on the North Slope.

The paper, by Scott Goldsmith of the University of Alaska's Institute for Social and Economic Research, says that all the jobs that can be traced in some way to oil development -- about 187,000 -- make up half of the state's jobs.

From Elizabeth Bluemink --

The Associated Press --

Alaska’s Chickaloon tribe is asking the United Nations to hear its concerns about a planned coal mine in Mat-Su.

The Alaska Public Radio Network reports that the Athabascan community near Palmer is opposed to the project being considered by Usibelli Co. at a site called Wishbone Hill.

The tribe has filed a document to the United Nations’ independent expert on water and sanitation. The issue is a test case in Alaska to see how the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples might be used to intervene in development projects.

From Elizabeth Bluemink –

Both of the companies competing to build a gas line from Alaska’s North Slope to Lower 48 markets have fallen behind on their self-imposed deadlines to sign agreements with potential gas shippers.

TransCanada had planned to announce its signed agreements by Dec. 31. The Denali project, headed up by BP and Conoco Phillips, had planned to sign agreements by Feb. 1 Both deadlines passed without an announcement from the companies.

Petroleum News --

Patrick Galvin, the recently departed commissioner of the Alaska Department of Revenue, has joined the global law firm K&L Gates.

The law firm counts the state of Alaska as one of its clients. The firm is helping press the state’s civil suit against BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. seeking to collect potentially $1 billion in lost oil and gas revenue, fines and other damages stemming from Prudhoe Bay pipeline leaks in 2006.

The Associated Press --

A coalition of fishing, hunting and sporting groups is asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to protect Alaska's salmon-rich Bristol Bay from the proposed Pebble Mine.

From Elizabeth Bluemink –

A Shell-commissioned study published Thursday said that developing new oil and gas fields in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas could generate nearly 10 billion barrels of oil and 15 trillion cubic feet of natural gas over the next 50 years, generating $193 billion in federal, state and local government revenue.

The study estimated that Arctic offshore oil could reduce foreign oil exports by about 9 percent for 30 years.

From Bill White --

The municipality of Anchorage is changing cell-phone and Internet companies, a move city officials say will save $411,000 over the three-year life of the deal.

The city is switching to ACS as its cell-phone carrier and Internet provider next month, said Sarah Erkmann, spokeswoman for Mayor Dan Sullivan. The city has been using GCI for most of its cell-phone and Internet business, she said.

From Bill White --

Anchorage hotel room sales grew 9 percent last year to total $201 million, a sign of the recovering Lower 48 economy and a rebound in tourism.

The new numbers from the Municipality of Anchorage, which collects a 12 percent tax on hotel rooms, show that last year’s hotel room sales hit about the same level the city’s lodging industry achieved in 2007.

The Associated Press --

JUNEAU -- A new report says Alaska’s seafood industry is doing a lot for the state’s economy.

The report funded by the Marine Conservation Alliance says Alaska’s seafood industry now employs more than 70,000 people and generates more than $3 billion a year in wholesale value.

MCA President Frank Kelty says the seafood industry operates in dozens of communities along Alaska coastlines.

From Bill White and The Associated Press --

Oil prices topped $100 per barrel Wednesday for the first time in 2½ years as the unrest in Libya worsened. Gasoline prices in the U.S. climbed to nearly $3.20 a gallon, the highest level ever for February.

Alaska North Slope oil closed at $102 a barrel on West Coast open markets. That was up $2.93 a barrel for the day.

The last time North Slope prices topped $100 was in September 2008, when they were falling, not rising. By Christmas that year the price had hit bottom at $26 before slowly beginning to rise again.

From Bill White --

Alaska Air says it's paying $7.6 million in bonuses to its workers in Alaska -- plus $77.4 million to workers elsewhere -- after the company's good financial performance last year.

The bonus totals more than a month's pay for most workers, the company said.

Alaska Air Group posted a $263 million profit last year, up from $89 million in 2009.

Here's what the company says about the bonuses:

Frank Bajak, The Associated Press --

QUITO, Ecuador - An Ecuadorean judge ruled Monday in an epic environmental case that Chevron Corp. was responsible for oil drilling contamination in a wide swath of Ecuador's northern jungle and ordered the oil giant to pay $8.6 billion in damages and cleanup costs.

The amount was far below the $27.3 billion recommended by a court-appointed expert. But whether the plaintiffs - who include indigenous groups who say their traditional hunting and fishing grounds were decimated by billions of gallons of toxic waste - can collect remains to be seen.

From Bill White --

Dean Weidner, founder and owner of Weidner Property Management, has pledged $3 million to establish an endowed chair in UAA’s College of Business and Public Policy.

The university said the Weidner Chair in Business Management will help the college expand its programs to meet the changing demand of the business community and provide opportunities to hire exceptional professors or professionals in a particular field of study.

BECKY BOHRER
The Associated Press

JUNEAU -- A federal agency is implementing what it calls the first comprehensive revisions in more than a decade to a program that gives Alaska Native corporations an edge in obtaining federal contracts.

The U.S. Small Business Administration says the changes to the 8(a) Business Development program will take effect March 14.

By Chris Kahn, The Associated Press --

NEW YORK — Conoco Phillips said Friday it will reward investors with a 20 percent dividend increase and a plan to buy back $10 billion of shares.

The company also announced a $12 billion exploration and production capital budget for this year that includes some projects on Alaska's North Slope, where Conoco has major holdings.

The Associated Press --

This Valentine's Day, 54 jewelers in the United States are saying no to gold from the proposed Pebble Mine.

Opponents of the proposed copper and gold mine in the Bristol Bay watershed say the boycott from jewelers represents more than $5.75 billion in annual sales. The companies include some of the largest in the industry, including Zale Corp. and Helzberg Diamonds.

Opponents worry that the mine in Southwest Alaska will harm the famed Bristol Bay wild salmon fishery downstream.

From Bill White --

New numbers from a national research firm quantify the hammering Alaska's construction industry took last year.

McGraw-Hill Construction has been tracking the dollar value of construction contracts let in Anchorage and Mat-Su for decades. It has gaps in its data -- for example, it excludes road work and some other public works. It mainly looks at contracts for buildings.

McGraw-Hill said the region had $486 million in construction contracting last year. That compares with $819 million in 2009.

Becky Bohrer, The Associated Press --

JUNEAU -- Denali-The Alaska Gas Pipeline is employing fewer people than earlier in its effort to advance a natural gas project.

Spokesman Dave MacDowell says the scope of work determines staffing levels and Denali finished the technical and field work necessary for this portion of the project. The focus now is on negotiations with possible shippers.

Denali, a joint effort of BP and Conoco Phillips, is competing to advance a major line that would carry gas from Alaska's North Slope to market.

From Elizabeth Bluemink --

The Parnell administration has asked for $65 million from the Alaska Legislature this year to move along the Susitna dam proposal. The state says building a 700-foot tall dam on the Susitna River, about halfway between Anchorage and Fairbanks, could offset roughly 50 percent of current electricity consumption in the Railbelt.