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Hilcorp adds 900 Alaska workers; Goldman curbs Arctic oil lending
Kay Cashman Petroleum News
Hilcorp Alaska, an affiliate of Hilcorp Energy Co., said Dec. 19 that it expects to add 900-plus employees to its Alaska workforce, boosting it from approximately 500 employees to around 1,500 as it prepares to complete the acquisition of BP Alaska’s upstream and midstream assets.
Nearly 90% of Hilcorp Alaska’s current employees are Alaska residents.
Shortly following the acquisition announcement in late August, Hilcorp said it began a thorough review of workforce needs and close coordination with BP to ensure opportunities with it would be available to BP’s local workforce.
As of today, more than 800 BP employees have been offered a position with Hilcorp, which represents over 80% of all BP employees who applied for a position with Hilcorp. Interviews and offers will continue to be made in the coming weeks as the transition continues.
Further, Hilcorp expects to post more than 150 additional positions in the coming months.
“We are very excited to continue our growth and investment here” said Jason Rebrook, president of Hilcorp. “For decades the energy industry has been a key driver of the state’s economic growth and has helped create a better quality of life for all Alaskans. Hilcorp is excited to build upon that legacy through innovation and responsible resource development.”
Alaska has produced more than 18 billion barrels of oil, accounting for more than 20% of U.S. domestic production, since Prudhoe Bay went online.
- Petroleum News
Goldman curbs lending on new Arctic drilling Goldman Sachs is no longer financing new Arctic drilling, the big U.S. investment bank said Dec. 15 in its updated Environmental Policy Framework.
While it stressed protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s coastal plain, the framework said the bank’s new policy “includes but is not limited to” ANWR.
Goldman’s policy change came as climate talks in Madrid ended, with delegates from almost 200 countries tempering language on climate change issues they had agreed on in previous years. According to news reports the delegates agreed there was an “urgent need” for nations to make deeper cuts to greenhouse gases, but they set aside work that would have devised ways to add market mechanisms to meet their goals.
CEO David Solomon praised the bank’s decision in an opinion piece in the Financial Times, writing that “over the next 10 years, Goldman Sachs will target $750 billion of financing, investing and advisory activity to nine areas that focus on climate transition and inclusive growth,” including clean energy and transportation, sustainable food and agriculture, and education.
Goldman’s new policy also included refusing to finance new coal-fired power plants in developing nations. The bank had previously only done this in the U.S. and developed countries, unless the borrowers had carbon capture and storage or comparable technology
Gov. Mike Dunleavy said the state of Alaska needs to reassess its relationship with Goldman Sachs in light of the bank’s new policy on not financing new Arctic drilling.
“I think it’s unfortunate,” Dunleavy said in an interview on FOX Business’ Varney & Co. “We do a lot of business with Goldman Sachs. We’re going have to reevaluate that, have a discussion with them.”
- KAY CASHMAN
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