Regulatory and fiscal stability herald bright future for investment in Alaska
There is a renaissance underway on the North Slope driven primarily by two huge projects – Santos’ and Eni’s Pikka development and ConocoPhillips’ Willow. Together, these two, new oil fields will increase production to levels not seen in in two decades.
Despite the challenges that come with operating in the Arctic – high costs, harsh weather, supply chain issues, legal hurdles and fluctuating oil prices –Alaska can expect $22 billion in planned oil and gas industry investment between 2025 and 2030, according to a petroleum economics study by Anchorage-based McKinley Research.
We cannot control many of the challenges Arctic operations bring, but we can maintain fair and stable tax policies that attract the capital needed to keep our resource industries healthy so they can produce jobs and revenues for Alaskans.
Let’s keep Alaska competitive!
What’s at stake
$4B
State & Local Revenue
FY25
70,425
Alaskan Jobs Supported
Direct/Indirect
$0.5B
Grow the Permanent Fund
FY22 Dedicated Revenues to Corpus
$5.8B
Spending with Local Businesses
Annual
Source: McKinley Research for AOGA
Stable tax policy leads to resource renaissance on the North Slope
Alaska’s July 2026 employment report showed a mixed statewide picture, but oil and gas was a clear source of growth. The state had 2,100 fewer jobs than in July 2025, a 0.6% decline driven by government losses. The private sector still edged higher, and oil and gas added 800 jobs over the year.
That gain is the jobs side of expanding North Slope activity. As operators increase work on producing fields and new development, they add drill-site crews, maintenance staff, and oil-field support contractors. Those hires register in the statewide oil and gas count even as other industries slipped. Manufacturing, mainly seafood processing, was down 1,000 jobs. Construction lost 700, professional and business services 500, and retail 300.
Transportation, warehousing, and utilities added 1,200 jobs, health care 400, and leisure and hospitality 200. Federal employment fell by 1,300 and state government by 1,000. Alaska’s unemployment rate was 4.3%.
The 800 additional oil and gas jobs show North Slope expansion continuing to put Alaskans to work while the broader payroll picture remains uneven.
Full statistics here: labor.alaska.gov/news/2026/news26-16.htm
You can see it in the numbers:
13,895,025 BBLS April
14,028,811 BBLS May – Pikka begins production
13,403,953 BBLS June
14,091,625 BBLS July
14,191,436 BBLS August – Coyote starts production
A slow, but steady increase through spring and summer and then a shot of adrenaline from ConocoPhillips’ Coyote development, followed by a major boost once Pikka’s seawater injection plant came online. Santos' current water injection is around 40,000 barrels per day, targeting plateau production of approximately 80,000 barrels of oil per day at the end of the third quarter of 2026.
Santos Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Kevin Gallagher said seawater injection marked a significant step on the path to plateau production. "Seawater injection is a critical step in unlocking Pikka's production capacity. With pressure support now established and wells coming online progressively, we continue to target plateau production rates at the end of the third quarter of 2026.”
More here. www.petroleumnews.com/story/2026/09/06/e-and-p/oil-output-soars/50338.html
It took $22 BILLION in new industry investment to kickstart the new renaissance now sweeping across on Alaska’s North Slope. While we cannot control many of the challenges Arctic operations bring, we can maintain fair and stable tax policies that attract the capital needed to keep our resource industries healthy so they can produce jobs and revenues for Alaskans.
Producing more oil is one part of keeping Alaska competitive. Finding ways to do it more efficiently matters, too.
Santos says its drilling program at Pikka is consistently beating established technical limits, reducing both the time and cost required to drill new wells.
That’s significant as Pikka ramps toward approximately 80,000 barrels per day.
Every improvement in drilling performance helps strengthen the economics of operating on Alaska’s North Slope, where projects must compete for investment against energy opportunities around the world.
Better technology, experienced crews and continually improving performance can help make Alaska resources more competitive while supporting continued production, jobs and throughput for TAPS.
Pikka is delivering new barrels today while its operators continue working to make tomorrow’s barrels more efficient to produce.
Letter from the co-chairs
Fair and Competitive oil taxes are working
There is a resurgence in oil production and jobs in Alaska that is directly related to our current oil tax policy. SB 21, a fair and competitive tax policy, replaced the antiquated ACES tax structure that drove down petroleum investment for more than a decade. Thanks to SB 21, Alaskans have the greatest opportunity of our generation on the North Slope today.
Some present and former legislators argue that SB 21 was a mistake, but the facts speak for themselves.
The Willow and Pikka projects, years in the making, are in active development, with Pikka now online. These and other robust investments in Alaska’s future would not have occurred under the previous punitive tax regime. Between the Willow and Pikka projects alone, the oil and gas industry is spending over $11 billion in Alaska, with each project generating thousands of construction jobs and hundreds of operating jobs.
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