Exxon’s Point Thomson Lease: Murkowski 1 Palin 0

Red County ^ | February 12th, 2010 | Thomas Lamb

[theanchoragedailyruse]

This is a follow up to a commentary that I had written earlier on Red County.

In the previous commentary I had pointed to former Governor Sarah Palin’s actions of denying Exxon their due process rights when Point Thomson leases were yanked from them. And then I compared her actions to the same actions taken by Hugo Chavez when Chavez yanked Exxon's leases in Venezuela.

Since the posting of the commentary, former Governor Sarah Palin in her Facebook commentary seems to be taking credit for one oil well being drilled in Point Thomson.

[theanchoragedailyruse]

http://www.redcounty.com/exxon’s-point-thomson-lease-murkowski-1-palin-0/36836

[4rcane]

correct me if im wrong, but i think exxon had this area leased for decades and not drilling in it. It was a sort of monopoly control. Palin sought to break it and threatened to re lease it to someoene else. After the threat. Exxon started drilling

[Onerom99]

Quite improper actions by Palin, IMO.

[raybbr]

Did it say in the lease that they HAD to drill?

[Recon Dad]

I was thinking the exact same thing. These oil companies take out cheap leases and sit on the land and unless you threaten them they will do nothing until forced.
They hold the lease as leverage to hammer the state for lower taxes. Well the only way to get them off the dime is to push them a bit.

[LibLieSlayer]

You know that the truth does not matter to the press or the government.

LLS

[TexasCajun]

This guy sounds like a Mitt Romney Red-Stater!

[McGruff]

Palin Derangement Syndrome

How bad do you have it?

[4rcane]

being good stewart of public asset, the action was totally proper. The oil companies have way too much control of the government. Giving them sweet deals. From lower taxes than anyone else, to public funded joint projects. Palin came in and broke the monopoly and removed the public funding of projects forcing the oil companies to raise their own capital

[4rcane]

this is not capitalism vs socialism. Its a difference between good governance and a bad one. Even in the most capitalist society, we still have a government

[euram]

Murkowski let Exxon sit on the lease and not drill, as had several other former governors. Palin forced them to start drilling: Palin 1 Murkowski 0

As usual, you have your head up your a$$

[Carley]

You are correct. Guess the Palin haters are tolling the internet in their effort to discredit her.

[dools007]

Hmmm, let’s see—Exxon has Alaska oil lease for decades. Does nothing with it. Ergo Alaskans cannot derive income from their own oil. Not to mention the little matter of reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil. This arrangement persisted through a number of Alaskan governorships. I leave the issue of what Exxon was doing to manage this status quo for another day’s discussion.

Enter Palin. She bucks her own party and recompetes the lease. Exxon loses, TansCanada wins. How exactly was Exxon deprived its right to due process? Please be specific if you can.

Oh, and please explain why it was a good thing (or made any sense) that governors preceeding Palin allowed Exxon to sit on the oil for all those years. Be specific if you can.

[BARLF]

The requested page could not be found

The link doesn’t work

[BARLF]

Could you link the article? Doesn’t work for me.

[BARLF]

http://www.redcounty.com/exxon’s-point-thomson-lease-murkowski-1-palin-0/36836?taxonomy=1873

[Timocrat]

Quite improper actions by Palin, IMO.

It's not a simple situation. All of the primary lease terms at Point Thompson had expired. The leases had been unitized by the State which action prolonged the leases. Subsequently the state declared the unitization terminated thus effectively ending the leases. An issue arose about whether old wells held the unitization together.

In the latest developement an Alaskan superior court judge has sided with Exxon Mobil and its partners saying they did not get a fair hearing from the Alaska DNR.I would anticipate that the State will appeal.

The Alaska DNR summary of their case can be found at the ref below. Alaska State Brief

A summary of the events from Petroleum News : See here

[Leisler]

Poor Exon, maybe they don’t understand oil leases, eh? Or, maybe, even in Alaska, they don’t have competent atorneys.
Yeah, that’s it.

Or maybe the state is dependent upon not lease sales, but oil extraction and the price of the lease at auction requires the lessee to not only have sole accessed but to actively work the lease? Kind of like a guy who leased out his ranch for a few years and contractually requires that the ranch be worked.

Nah, Sarah is just a nutter and loves to spend time taking on the near largest, most profitable corporation in the country ( which by the way, is refreshing for a Republican, they are usually just such corporate doormats and boot licks )

[Leisler]

Bingo!

[rob777]

"correct me if im wrong, but i think exxon had this area leased for decades and not drilling in it."


That is how I understood it as well. In this she seems to be on sold ground. I am more concerned about the accusation that she denied due process. If that is true, she bypassed the rule of law to achieve her goals. Given all of the false charges that have been leveled at her, I am not taking this claim as gospel.