Senate Republican Minority Leader Applauds Eni’s Decision to Move Forward to Develop Nikaitchuq Field

Juneau - Senator Gene Therriault, R-North Pole, today publically applauded Eni for forging ahead with development of the Nikaitchuq oil field. On the Senate Floor, Senator Therriault congratulated Eni, who announced that they are going to sanction Nikaitchuq, an offshore project east of the Oooguruk field. Senator Therriault commented that “Eni will be moving forward with this 1.45 billion dollar project, much of that front loaded to build an off-shore gravel island and pipeline. Eni will drill seventy wells to access recoverable reserves estimated to contain approximately 180 million barrels of oil. That oil will be sent to a newly built Eni processing facility with the capacity to process up to 40,000 barrels a day. It is apparent that Eni wants to establish a separate presence from other companies operating on the North Slope.”

Senator Therriault, highlighting Eni’s holdings in the Gulf of Mexico, stressed that “when the Senate was contemplating changing the oil and gas tax structure during the last Special Session in November, some legislators claimed we had to match our tax structure to that applicable to the Gulf of Mexico. They argued that by adjusting our tax, we would lose all our investors here in Alaska. However, even under our new tax structure, Eni wants to be a player in the State of Alaska. They are willing to invest 1.45 billion dollars to bring Alaska’s resources to market. This announcement underscores that even under our new tax structure; Alaska remains an attractive basin for companies that desire a diversified exploration and development portfolio.”

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