Elizabeth Harball, Alaska's Energy Desk - Anchorage
Elizabeth Harball is a reporter with Alaska's Energy Desk, covering Alaska’s oil and gas industry and environmental policy. She is a contributor to the Energy Desk’s Midnight Oil podcast series. Before moving to Alaska in 2016, Harball worked at E&E News in Washington, D.C., where she covered federal and state climate change policy. Originally from Kalispell, Montana, Harball is a graduate of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
State fines Hilcorp an additional $160K for violations
The state is fining oil and gas company Hilcorp an additional $160,000 for using nitrogen without permission while working on two wells in 2015 — the same practice that nearly killed three North Slope workers. Listen now
Will a Texan-Australian partnership bring the ‘shale revolution’ to the North Slope?
Amid a wave of new oil discoveries in Alaska, other companies are hoping to get lucky, too. And in pursuit of the next billion-barrel find, two companies from Texas and Australia are trying something a little different. Listen now
Italian company submits plan to drill for oil in the Arctic
Italian energy company Eni this month submitted an exploration plan to drill for oil in federal waters in the Beaufort Sea. Listen now
State hopes environmental monitoring will clear up unknowns about Cook Inlet gas leak
State regulators have given preliminary approval to Hilcorp’s plan to monitor the environmental impacts of the gas leak in Cook Inlet. Listen now
Calls for Hilcorp to shut down leaking Cook Inlet gas line get louder
An ongoing natural gas leak in Cook Inlet is sparking a debate over pipeline safety. Hilcorp, the responsible company, said it can’t shut off the flow of gas through the pipeline without risking an oil spill. But a number of environmental groups disagree. Listen now
Companies trumpet 1.2 billion-barrel oil discovery on North Slope
The companies behind an already significant oil find on Alaska’s North Slope on Thursday said they’ve confirmed the biggest onshore discovery in the U.S. in three decades. Listen now
What does it take to prove a big oil discovery?
There’s a lot of excitement building about three big oil discoveries on Alaska’s North Slope. Caelus Energy, Armstrong Oil and Gas and ConocoPhillips all recently announced they’ve found huge new oil fields. But what does it take to prove an oil discovery? Listen now
Ice in Cook Inlet likely to delay fix to Hilcorp gas leak for weeks
Hilcorp recently informed state regulators that the company is unlikely to begin repairs on a gas leak in Cook Inlet until mid- to late March. Listen now
Waiting for winter: ice roads mean the North Slope can get to work
Every winter, a massive infrastructure project takes place on the North Slope — one that’s designed to disappear. Ice roads are built to minimize the oil industry’s footprint on the sensitive tundra, and melt away in spring. Many of the oil industry’s multi-million dollar projects on the North Slope can’t be built until the ice roads are finished each year. Listen now
Environmental group to sue Hilcorp over Cook Inlet gas leak
Hilcorp's leaking gas pipeline in Cook Inlet is drawing concern from environmental groups and state and federal agencies. Listen now
Cook Inlet company fined nearly half a million dollars for safety violations
A state agency on Tuesday (Feb. 14) announced it is fining an oil and gas company that operates in Cook Inlet for major safety violations. Listen now
Environmental group calls for shutdown of leaking gas line in Cook Inlet
A local environmental group is calling on regulators to shut down a leaking gas line in Cook Inlet until it is repaired. Listen now
State coffers won’t cover cost of cleanup if oil companies walk away
The agency that oversees oil and gas drilling in the state says it doesn’t collect nearly enough money to clean up wells in case companies walk away. Regulators say the recent influx of small, private companies means Alaska risks shouldering the cost of abandoned wells. State lawmakers are receptive to addressing the issue. Listen now
ConocoPhillips still struggling globally, but profitable in Alaska
ConocoPhillips on Thursday announced it netted $115 million in Alaska last quarter — almost double what it earned in the third quarter. But the Houston-based company is still grappling with a multi-billion dollar global loss. Listen now
Anchorage-area power companies announce agreement to reduce costs
Three electric utilities serving the Anchorage area — Chugach Electric Association, Municipal Light & Power and Matanuska Electric Association– on Monday (Jan. 30) announced a preliminary agreement to work together to provide lower-cost power. Listen now
Living in a dreamscape: How one couple forged a future on the Yukon River
When writer John McPhee arrived on the Yukon River in the mid-1970s, he encountered men and women living as far from civilization as they could manage. He profiled many of these people in the third section of his book, “Coming into the Country.” One of the people McPhee met during this time was Steve Ulvi. For a decade beginning in 1974, Ulvi and his soon-to-be wife Lynette Roberts lived hundreds of miles from the nearest city in a cabin they built near the Yukon River. Listen now
An Alaskan couple looks back at romance and upheaval in the wilderness
During the 1970s, a small number of tough-minded young people moved into what is now the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve. They built cabins, trapped, fished, hunted and raised sled-dogs — living a version of the Alaskan dream that would soon become a thing of the past. The third section of John McPhee’s book, “Coming into the Country,” profiles many of these people, living a life only the Alaskan frontier could offer. Listen now
State agency could offer public comment period on fracking projects
The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (AOGCC) is proposing a ten-day comment period for applications to use hydraulic fracturing on an oil or gas well. The proposal falls in between what environmental groups and the industry say is sufficient opportunity for public input before a well can be fracked in Alaska. Listen now
ConocoPhillips’ big new find on the North Slope could help replenish pipeline
On Jan. 13, ConocoPhillips announced a major oil find in the National Petroleum-Reserve Alaska (NPR-A). The company is calling it the Willow Discovery. Experts say coupled with several other recent big discoveries in the region, it could portend a new wave of oil development on the North Slope. If developed, it could go a long ways toward replenishing the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. Listen now
As BLM moves to protect the National Petroleum Reserve, Conoco pushes back
It may be called the “National Petroleum Reserve,” but the 23-million-acre chunk of federal land on the North Slope didn’t see a full-scale oil development until 2015. As this new era begins, the Bureau of Land Management is adding another layer of protection to this vast, sensitive area. Listen now