Francis McLaughlin You're absolutely right. Alaska is the only owner-state in the US, but in other countries, the government owns the oil ... but get far different and better results from it. Iraq pays BP $2 a barrel to produce its Ramadi field ... which is in a war zone. If I had to choose between cold as hell 9 months a year and possibility of getting shot or bombed out of existence - I'd take the cold. But here we are, paying around $50 a barrel in production credit. Why? Good question. Paying production credit is standard, btw, but Alaska pays a great deal more than any other oil-owning government in the world. Sean Parnell was and is now an oil company executive and SB21 was his brainchild. The Legislature needs to go back to the drawing board, take that $2 a barrel as a guideline and renegotiate. They shouldn't argue about certainty, but stand up as owners and demand to be treated with respect ... you know, like Iraq did.