The state’s top oil and gas regulator is stepping down.
Corri Feige emailed colleagues on Tuesday saying her last day is Oct. 3.
“This decision has been incredibly difficult for me, but opportunity rarely knocks at convenient times and in this instance, I have got to answer that knock!,” Feige wrote.
She also said the move would reduce her daily commute and allow her to spend more time with family.
Feige, whose division is a subset of the state’s Department of Natural Resources, didn’t return a message seeking comment. But spokesperson Diane Hunt said Feige was busy and wouldn’t be available to talk about her decision for the “next few days.”
Feige has been the face of an ongoing fight between the state and the oil companies that control Prudhoe Bay, over the companies’ plans for marketing natural gas from the North Slope.
The state is taking the lead role in a massive project designed to move natural gas from the North Slope to Asian markets. And Feige’s division wants more specific information from the companies on how they plan to make the gas available.
The companies have argued they either don’t have that information or can’t legally share it.
It’s the latest in a series of high profile officials leaving Governor Bill Walker’s oil and gas team. Former Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Mark Myers retired in February, followed by acting commissioner Marty Rutherford, who resigned in June.
Rashah McChesney is a photojournalist turned radio journalist who has been telling stories in Alaska since 2012. Before joining Alaska's Energy Desk, she worked at Kenai's Peninsula Clarion and the Juneau bureau of the Associated Press. She is a graduate of Iowa State University's Greenlee Journalism School and has worked in public television, newspapers and now radio, all in the quest to become the Swiss Army knife of storytellers.
