Oil companies have spent more than $1.4 million in recent months on advertising in Alaska a bid to win voter support for its views on oil taxes and a natural gas pipeline, according to new figures.
The Alaska Oil and Gas Association spent more than $800,000 on ads and public relations last Autumn. At the time, the industry was grappling with the state over an oil tax hike at the time and was unsuccessful in convincing the state to keep the tax from rising.
The reports cover the last three months of 2007 and show the oil company Conoco Phillips spent about $600,000 in December alone on advertising. The ads were intended to convince Alaskans to support its proposal for a $30 billion natural gas pipeline from the North Slope.