Fairbanks Sen. Joe Paskvan says the court ruling Friday in the borough's pipeline valuation case is a good sign for future oil development in the state.

There are 7 billion barrels of already proven reserves that can be recovered between now and 2065, Superior Court Judge Sharon Gleason wrote, adding that when the pipeline began operations 34 years ago, there were 9.6 billion barrels of proven reserves, so Alaska remains a vital oil province.

She said that at the end of 2008, BP told the Securities and Exchange Commission that it expected economic production at Prudhoe Bay until 2049. That was based on an oil price of $44 per barrel.

The judge found that it is reasonable to conclude that the pipeline can operate down to 100,000 barrels per day and continue for another half-century.

"This should ease the minds of many Alaskans as to the imminent demise of the pipeline," Paskvan said, shortly after getting a copy of the decision this afternoon. "This indicates that we have a 50-year minimum operation without considering many of the resources that are likely to be harvested from the North Slope."

Every member of the Legislature should read it as well and develop a working knowledge of the documents quotes in the decision before the session starts.

Regarding future oil reserves, Paskvan notes that the Point Thomson oil and gas deposits are not included in the 7 billion barrel tally, and other likely development projects have not yet advanced to the stage where they are listed as "proven."

The court decision quotes many internal documents and emails from the oil companies predicting a long life for the pipeline. They also predict that the oil pipeline could operate economically at lower flow rates than have been cited by many in the oil industry.

In a key way, Paskvan said, the information gained through a court proceeding is subject to a level of scrutiny that doesn't happen in politics. The use of expert witnesses, the ability to acquire internal documents through the discovery process and the ability to cross-examine witnesses and test assumptions are all things that don't happen in the legislative hearing process and in other settings where public pronouncements are made.

He said that when testimony is presented under oath and with cross-examination, "it leads to a higher quality of information than is typically available as part of the legislative process."

He said what he finds particularly shocking is that the owner companies say the pipeline is worth about $1 billion, while Judge Sharon Gleason figures it is closer to $9 billion.