“The decisions that are going to be made from now to the end of the session are important to those people who have jobs and very important to young Alaskans who will be seeking good-paying jobs and residents who receive financial assistance from the State. We have had layoffs in excess of 300 and experienced pay cuts from 10–20 percent all the way to the top.”
-Jim Udelhoven, Chief Executive Officer, Udelhoven Oilfield System Services, Inc.
“Despite the 70% percent drop in oil prices from 2014 to 2016, the annual decline curve in North Slope oil production is actually leveling off – from 6.6 percent to 1 percent in the same time period. This boost in North Slope oil production is no accident. Rather, it is a direct result of $5 billion of new investment by the oil and gas industry that was prompted by the passage of SB 21. Since 2014, Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC) has invested more than $200 million to expand our infrastructure and increase our capabilities to support responsible oil and gas development on the North Slope. ASRC continues to actively evaluate investment opportunities within the state of Alaska. However, the ongoing dialogue regarding an increase in North Slope production taxes is concerning and could lead us to allocate our investment capital to opportunities outside of Alaska. Accordingly, we encourage the governor and the legislature to take a long-term view to solving the state’s fiscal challenges and continue to make Alaska an attractive place to invest.”
– Butch Lincoln, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, ASRC
“NANA has already lost over 500 good paying oil related industry jobs this past year. We are very concerned that the oil industry will continued its decline in Alaska if we put additional costs and taxes on an already stressed industry. Further industry decline will result in more lost Alaskan jobs and a further deterioration of our state wide economy.”
– Helvi Sandvik, President, NANA Development Corp.
“I am not optimistic about further investments. SB 21 is working & frankly we should be doing more to spur investment from the resource industry instead of taxing them more. When you take away money from the private sector to fund the public, it hurts those of us that employ your constituents and all of our local vendors. Like clockwork, every other year we have to keep lobbying the legislature for the right to work; please keep Alaska competitive.”
– Genevieve Schok Jr., Flowline Alaska, Fairbanks