Alaska upholds $741,520 penalty for North Slope gas flaring

State regulators upheld a $741,520 civil penalty against Mustang Holding LLC for five months of unauthorized natural gas flaring at the Southern Miluveach Unit on the North Slope. The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission issued its decision and order July 14, after serving a Notice of Proposed Enforcement Action on April 28.

Mustang Holding admitted the flaring continued beyond the permit deadline that expired Oct. 31, but argued the post-deadline burning was necessary. The commission rejected that position and kept the penalty in place under Alaska oil-and-gas enforcement rules. The case centers on a small North Slope field that has been described as trouble-plagued, a project that has moved through ownership changes and financial troubles.

The penalty lands on a unit that Alaska’s state-owned development bank had previously bailed out before the field was eyed for sale in 2023. That history makes the fine more than a bookkeeping line item: for a leaseholder operating a field with a long record of distress, a $741,520 assessment is a sharp reminder that regulators are still willing to act when permit deadlines are missed.

The case also fits a broader enforcement pattern across the North Slope. Other operators were fined for flaring-related violations in 2025 and 2026, and the state’s flare record has already contradicted Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s past claim that Alaska does not flare its natural gas. The North Slope Borough has said oil and gas activity is a major issue for the region because it affects land-management and revenue interests, making repeated flaring disputes part of a larger question about trust in oversight on the Slope.