Oil majors are rediscovering Alaska amid the unprecedented oil and gas crunch caused by the war in the Middle East. Previously considered a sort of toxic drilling destination, the northernmost state is now returning to the spotlight as a source of secure supply.

In early May, the Bureau of Land Management launched a lease sale for 625 tracts across about 5.5 million acres in the National Petroleum Reserve. The sale attracted record bids totaling $163 million, from companies including Exxon, Repsol, ConocoPhillips, Santos, and Shell.

“It feels like a bit of the Alaska renaissance,” ConocoPhillips chief executive Ryan Lance said recently, as quoted by Bloomberg. “When you think about the strategic importance of where we are going to find the conventional oil to satisfy the growing demand around the world, people are coming back to places like Alaska. So it does very much feel like back to the future.” Trump’s Iran Signals Send Oil Markets Into Chaos

Conoco, and fellow bidder in the recent lease sale Santos, are the companies engaged in the only two recent oil and gas projects to start in Alaska. Conoco runs the Willow project, which was greenlit by President Biden in what enraged his environmentalist voters at the time, and Santos recently launched commercial production at the Pikka project.

The Bureau of Land Management approved Conoco’s 160,000-bpd Willow project in the National Petroleum Reserve of Alaska in late 2020. Government officials hailed the project as a job creator and a guarantee that oil will continue to flow along the Trans Alaska Pipeline. The Pikka project, for its part, is seen adding some 80,000 barrels daily to Alaska’s total output by the third quarter of this year.

The legacy producing region used to pump 2 million barrels daily about twenty years ago, at the peak of its exploitation. Now, this has fallen to below 600,000 barrels daily as environmentalist organizations stage pressure campaigns to limit exploration in ecologically sensitive areas, and costs increasingly look unappealing compared with the shale patch. In evidence that everything is relative, however, the costs of Alaska exploration now look palatable.

“What we’re now looking at is a gold rush mentality,” a senior activist from the Natural Resources Defense Council told Bloomberg this month. Indeed, there is a gold rush mentality in the energy industry now as oil and gas have suddenly become scarce commodities, with an estimated 14 to 15 million barrels of crude in daily supply gone for the observable future. This has made replacement a matter of the utmost urgency—and not just over the short term, as evidenced by the return of Big Oil majors that had previously left, presumably for good.

“What surprised us in the lease sale wasn’t only the dollar levels, but the new or returning entrants, like Shell and Exxon,” Bruce Dingeman, Santos vice president and head of the Australian company’s Alaska operations, said in comments on the recent lease sale, also quoted by Bloomberg. “That was a vote of confidence for the geology and the play, but it was also a vote of confidence that the regulatory reform is going to allow for responsible development to continue.”

This responsible development will now include liquefied natural gas: interest in the Alaska LNG export project has spiked since the war in the Middle East choked 20% of global LNG supply and sent Asian buyers scrambling for expensive spot cargoes. Previously considered rather costly, with a price tag of some $40 billion, Alaska LNG now looks quite attractive as a source of long-term, secure supply. And Alaska looks like an energy hotspot once again, contrary to expectations that the future of oil and gas is shale only.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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PHOENIX – A Phoenix community is still reeling from the murder of two children who police say were killed by their own mother. A memorial of balloons and stuffed animals continues to grow in the neighborhood where it happened near 47th Avenue and Bell Road.

Big picture view:

A cousin explained that the children’s father and the rest of the family are still trying to process the incident. Another mother who knows the pain of losing her children in this way also spoke about the situation. 

It is a tragedy community members are still wrapping their heads around.

“Our brains can’t conceptualize that a parent, of any kind, a mother or father, can possibly kill their own children,” said Hope Hooton, a child safety advocate.

The backstory:

Phoenix Police said 38-year-old Andrea Davis shot and killed her 18-month-old daughter and 10-year-old son, Austin, before killing herself at their home. Prior to the double murder-suicide, Glendale Police said she shot and wounded a woman who was with her husband, Nolan, in the parking lot of Tailgaters Sports Bar & Grill, located near 59th Avenue and Bell Road, texting him that she planned to hurt their children.

What we know:

“I can’t even imagine what my cousin’s going through right now,” said Felicia Queen, Nolan’s cousin.

Family members said the couple was heading toward a separation.

“Divorce papers were in the works,” Queen said.

Local perspective:

It is a pain that Hooton knows too well.

“It was 20 minutes away from where my children were murdered by their father in Surprise,” Hooton said.

Her two children were shot and killed by their father in 2024 following a custody dispute.

“My son Alec was seven, and my daughter Lydia was six,” Hooton said.

Dig deeper:

The act of killing one’s own children, filicide, is a term she wants everyone to know.

“From 2008 to 2024, there have been 989 filicide cases within the state of Arizona,” Hooton said.

Why you should care:

Hooton is now channeling her grief into change. The Alec and Lydia Act is now moving through the state legislature to protect children in custody disputes. Hooton shares this message with the Davis family.

“My heart is with you because I know exactly what you’re going through,” Hooton said.

What we don’t know:

It is not clear what the relationship is between Nolan and the woman shot in the Glendale parking lot, but when speaking with family members, they called her a friend.

What you can do:

Help is available. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, call or text 988. The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline provides free and confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to civilians and veterans. Support in Spanish is also available. You can also chat with crisis counselors via online chat.

CLICK HERE for the warning signs and risk factors of suicide.

What’s next:

Phoenix police say they did not have any prior calls for behavioral health or domestic violence to their home.

Phoenix police will investigate the murder-suicide. Meanwhile, Glendale police will investigate the bar shooting.

A Tesla driver infamous for a series of road rage attacks caught on camera in Southern California has been sentenced to seven years in prison after he was convicted in a similar case in Hawaii.

Videos from 2023 that went viral show a pipe-wielding man getting out of his Tesla and striking vehicles on Southern California roads.

Nathanial Radimak was arrested early that year for a series of attacks, was convicted in two road rage incidents and served time behind bars in California. Now he’s headed to prison again in Hawaii for a similar attack.

Two of Radmark’s Los Angeles-area victims reacted to the 40-year-old’s seven-year prison sentence, longer than even the prosecution requested.

“I feel that justice has finally been served,” said victim Beth Lamprecht during a press conference Tuesday.

“For years, there were pleas to keep this dangerous individual from hurting others. While those warnings went unheeded, today we finally have accountability,” she continued.

Those victims and attorney Gloria Allred argued that Radimak should not have been free in the first place.

He was sentenced to five years in prison in Los Angeles County and released after a year, according to the Department of Corrections.

Allred said he received credit for time served while awaiting sentencing and good behavior.

There are reports that Allred raised on Tuesday that Radimak was released early from California custody because of overcrowding.

He committed this latest attack in Hawaii while still on parole.

“It highlights a painful reality, one’s individual criminal behavior can impact communities across multiple cities and multiple states,” victim Vivian Romero said.

In the Hawaii attack, which was caught on camera, Radimak was seen zipping past a mother and 18-year-old daughter trying to parallel park.

The daughter yelled “slow down” out of concern. The suspect was then seen turning around, approaching their car, punching the 18-year-old and, when mom Diane Ung gets out furious, he punches her in the eye.

He pleaded no contest to two assault charges.

“For the first time in a long time, we all can breathe a little easier knowing that he will have time he needs in a space away from the general public,” Lamprecht said.

At the sentencing hearing in Hawaii, Radimak said he regrets the assault there and takes accountability and said he needs treatment. His attorney argued he has a long history of undiagnosed schizophrenia and other mental illnesses and struggled with side effects from his medications.

KTLA has reached out to the Department of Corrections and the Los Angeles County District Attorney to see if they will try to extradite Radimak for parole violation.