Our family came to Alaska in 1931. I grew up here and went straight from high school to work on the trans-Alaska pipeline. I built my career and my company on Alaska oil. My roots are in Alaska, my family is in Alaska, my business is based in Alaska ... I'm not going anywhere.
But what about my kids? They could witness the end of the industry that launched Alaska into statehood and has fueled our economy for the past five decades if we stay on our current course.
What then?
The pipeline is two-thirds empty and headed toward potentially insurmountable technical challenges in the next several years as oil throughput drops -- 6 percent a year, on average. With exploration and development activity at a near standstill, prospects for reversing the decline are bleak. State government's spending spigot really could run dry.
Nearly 2,000 in the oil industry supporting thousands more in the rest of our economy have lost work already. Thousands more are at risk. Companies providing goods and services to the industry are closing, consolidating or looking outside Alaska in order to survive.
My own company is a microcosm of what's happening throughout Alaska's oil industry now and what will happen throughout Alaska's economy soon if we continue to drive away investments with unfriendly taxes and regulations.
Three years ago, we were flying high. Our business supported North Slope oil exploration, and we'd invested heavily in equipment to build ice roads and move rigs. The risk was paying off.
We had 200 employees -- from all over the state -- working through the entire winter exploration season. We had four camps, providing catering and housekeeping jobs for dozens more employed by Doyon Universal Services.
Then came the ACES oil tax, and it was like someone turned off the faucet. Last year a single exploratory oil well was drilled on the entire North Slope. Only one is planned for 2011.
This year we have about a dozen employees working on the Slope, and instead of exploration, they're now working on maintenance projects. The majors aren't looking for new oil, and neither are the independents.
Like many companies, we looked outside for sustenance. We started working in North Dakota several months ago, and already have 40 full-time employees with all the work they can handle.
North Dakota is booming because of its user-friendly investment climate. When someone wants to drill, the attitude among state agencies is, "What can we do to make this work?" not, "How can we make this as expensive and time-consuming as possible, then confiscate all of the profits if you find something?"
North Dakota's oil production will double in the next few years. In less than a decade, it could be the No. 2 oil-producing state. It has more than 160 active drilling rigs and the demand for rigs exceeds the supply.
Compare that to the North Slope, where the number of active rigs has dwindled to 12, and more rigs are stacked than working. Once the No. 1 oil-producing state, Alaska's now a distant second to Texas and will be fourth behind California and North Dakota in less than a decade.
So what are North Dakota legislators talking about doing? Lowering oil taxes even further.
Alaska is losing investments to places like North Dakota, where they understand that lower taxes and a business-friendly environment mean more jobs, more business, more prosperity and a brighter future. Without the investments, we're losing our future.
Tough decisions our legislators make in the coming days about reforming ACES - and ones they avoid -- will determine whether we see the resurgence or the demise of the industry that holds the key to our future ... and whether my kids will have the opportunity to stay here to witness it.
Dave Cruz is president of Cruz Construction, a Palmer-based company that provides exploration support and tundra transportation to the oil, gas and mining industries and heavy civil construction. He also is a past president of Associated General Contractors of Alaska.
By DAVE CRUZ