Information about the current events happening in Alaska
If you happen across some information about Alaska’s current financial situation, you probably get the impression that we are in dire straights. When oil prices crashed 77% in late 2014, the State’s oil revenues collapsed – leaving a gaping hole in the budget. By all accounts, we’ve been deficit spending ever since. But that is[…]
Alaska is blessed with natural beauty and natural resources. In many ways, our State is the envy of governments around the world. People from outside spend thousands of dollars to enjoy what we see every day. Meanwhile, we pay no income or sales tax, plus receive a dividend check each year. Unfortunately, that last sentence[…]
At this point, you’ve probably heard more about the COVID-19 than you can stand. I feel you. And I don’t want to pile on to the discussion about the disease itself. But, the measures to protect public health will have economic consequences. While doing a full analysis of that economic damage is more work than[…]
It was over a year ago that I pointed out that Alaska was on the verge of a recovery. Wages were starting to grow again, and I predicted that jobs would follow suit. When we look at the data today, it’s clear that those predictions came true. Yet, I still hear people talking about being[…]
Alaska North Slope (ANS) oil has been selling at a premium to Brent for nearly a year, and we are seeing millions of dollars of added benefit as a result. The mostly likely cause is oil sanctions on Iran and Venezuela. Let’s explore the situation. Refinery Inputs Each refinery is designed to manage a certain[…]