US ELECTIONS: Alaska re-elects pro-drilling senator, likely rejects North Slope tax

Alaska voters have reelected Republican US Senator Dan Sullivan and appear on track to reject a new tax on North Slope oil and gas production, according to the latest count Nov. 11 including mail-in ballots.

Sullivan had 57.5% of votes with 74% counted, beating Democratic challenger Al Gross' 37.5%, according to The Associated Press, which called the race Nov. 11.

A citizen-led effort to increase taxes on North Slope production was losing with 47.5% of the vote, although AP has not yet called the race.

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Sullivan's win deals a blow to Democrats' hopes of taking control of the US Senate. Now the party will need to win both Jan. 5 runoff elections in Georgia to secure a 50-50 tie in the chamber that can be broken by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

Alaska's election results came late as the state only starts counting mail-in ballots one week after the election.

In his first term, Sullivan pushed to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling, which the Trump administration approved in August, setting the stage for a possible lease sale by December.

In April, Sullivan urged the Trump administration to retaliate against Saudi Arabia for sending a flood of crude to the US at the height of Riyadh's oil price war with Russia, when US producers were scrambling to find storage for their own supplies.

Gross campaigned on addressing climate change and creating clean energy jobs to transition from the state's dependence on fossil fuel revenues.

North Slope taxes

Ballot Measure 1, known as the Fair Share Act, called for higher taxes on fields with at least 400,000 b/d of output in the previous year and reserves of at least 400 million barrels.

BP, Conoco Phillips Alaska and ExxonMobil were part of the OneAlaska coalition urging voters to reject the measure, arguing it will increase taxes by at least 300% at $60/b oil prices and threaten oil development and jobs.

Vote Yes for Alaska's Fair Share, which spearheaded the initiative, said the increase would have only applied to Alaska's largest and most profitable fields – posing no threat to new development – and would give the state more money to pay for things like education, healthcare and capital projects.