Alaska ranked as one of the least

attractive places in North America for investment

Alaska ‘s reputation for oil and gas investment improved slightly over the past year, but it remains one of the least attractive places in North America for capital investment, according to a recent survey of petroleum industry executives.

Alaska ranked 61 out of 147 jurisdictions while the federal Alaska Outer Continental Shelf ranked 52nd, according to the 2012 Global Petroleum Survey by the Fraser Institute.

In 2011, the survey placed Alaska at 83 and the Alaska OCS at 78 among 135 jurisdictions. The annual survey gauges how decision-makers in the oil and gas sector view the business climate around the world. Respondents measure on 18 factors, including taxation and regulation.

The most attractive areas for investment appear to be North America and northern Europe, with 11 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces making the top 20. The least attractive were Bolivia, Venezuela, Iran, eastern Siberia, and Libya.

In the U.S., only New York ranked lower than Alaska. Unlike 2011, Alaska failed to rank above California or the Pacific OCS. Among North America jurisdictions, Alaska beat out Quebec and New Brunswick, but fell several spots below the Yukon and the Northwest Territories.

The survey ranked Oklahoma, Texas, North Dakota, and Colorado high. Alaska was marked down by respondents for “punitive government regulations, anti-business environment in the press, excessive taxation, and NGO litigation.”

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