HEX Operating files to renew Cook Inlet spill plan

HEX Operating, formerly Furie Operating Alaska, filed June 3 to renew its oil discharge prevention and contingency plan for its Cook Inlet facilities — a routine but consequential regulatory step for an operator that has been the focus of significant recent attention.

The renewal application covers the Kitchen Lights Unit, Platform A, the Julius R platform, and the Kitchen Lights Unit Gathering Center. Under Alaska's spill response regulations, HEX must demonstrate it can respond to a "realistic maximum oil discharge" of 5,500 barrels per day for 15 days — a total of 82,500 barrels. That standard, set by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, is the planning benchmark used to size response equipment, personnel, and contractor agreements.

The filing comes at a notable moment for HEX. Earlier this year, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority released the first draw from a $50 million revolving credit facility supporting HEX's $40 million Kitchen Lights drilling program — work that AIDEA materials cite as bringing two new gas wells online by late July, with up to four more budgeted for 2026. Expanded drilling activity at the same Cook Inlet facilities covered by the contingency plan raises the relevance of the renewal.

HEX is described in AIDEA materials as Alaska's only locally owned independent gas producer. Cook Inlet — the body of water surrounding the Kitchen Lights Unit — supports significant salmon habitat, subsistence and commercial fishing, and a Kenai Peninsula refinery, all of which depend on the kind of spill-response capacity the contingency plan addresses.

The renewal maintains regulatory compliance for existing operations and does not propose production expansion or new drilling. ADEC opened a public comment period June 3 running through July 6. Residents or affected municipalities may request a hearing by June 22, and disability accommodation requests must be submitted to the ADA Coordinator by July 2. Written comments can be submitted through the state's online public notice system or mailed to ADEC's Anchorage office.