Yes it is crazy! What is even more crazy is that these government subsidies were created by politicians in response to problems in the industry created by politically driven government agencies. Specifically the biggest contributor to this problem was the RCA blocking a free market contract between Marathon and Enstar in 2006.  Marathon, the major Cook Inlet gas supplier at the time, along with several other Cook Inlet gas producers recognized the RCA actions as adding huge risks to any Cook Inlet development costs.  As such, within months of the RCA ruling, the majority of development for cook inlet gas reserves and exploration came to a halt. This resulted in a projected gas shortage issue for South Central Alaska and the politicians that created the problem with the politically charged RCA then came up with a plan to provide subsides to fix the harm that the government created to start with.