BPAmoco-ARCO Merger
BP made a “compact” with the Governor that would have essentially handed over control of Alaska’s oil future to the company. It would have threatened Alaska’s political and economic well-being. AKPIRG bought public attention to the issue through media efforts, participated in the Backbone Alaska coalition, met with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and worked to get information that was needed for the FTC to make a good decision. AkPIRG helped win a fair deal to preserve competition. In the end, the FTC opposed the merger and ARCO’s Alaska assets were completely bought by Phillips Petroleum. The new merger still requires careful monitoring.
