Adam

⚡️Shell lost $7 billion in Alaska in 2015 and walked away. Now they’re back — along with Exxon and Repsol — with record bids. Earlier this month, companies dropped $163 million in record bids for Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve. Projects are already converting bids into barrels: ConocoPhillips’ Willow project will add 160,000 barrels per day, while Santos/Repsol’s Pikka project starts producing 80,000 b/d this year. Repsol’s upstream chief called Alaska “a fantastic opportunity,” linking it directly to the Pacific supply gap caused by the Iran war. Shell CEO Wael Sawan explained the shift: this is onshore exploration in a well-established basin — “very, very, very different from offshore Alaska.” Translation: stable jurisdiction, known geology, and no Hormuz risk. Meanwhile, the Alaska LNG project (800-mile pipeline from North Slope to Pacific terminal) is moving toward binding offtake agreements and FID in late 2026, with Asian buyers locked out of Qatari LNG now calling. A billion barrels of global supply have been wiped out since February. Geography is the new competitive advantage — the investment map has been permanently redrawn.