December production down from November 01/10/2010
Alaska North Slope production drops 1.6%, month to month; Endicott, Milne, Alpine, Prudhoe Bay all have reduced volumes
Alaska North Slope crude oil production dropped 1.56 percent in December, averaging 688,765 barrels per day compared to the November average of 699,675 bpd. ANS crude oil production peaked in 1988 at...

Lawyers debate BP motion 12/27/2009
Company fights Alaska's billion-dollar suit over '06 Prudhoe Bay pipeline leaks
A lawyer for BP on Dec. 21 urged a judge to dismiss much of the State of Alaska's lawsuit against the company seeking $1 billion or more in damages for the 2006 pipeline spills in the Prudhoe Bay oil...

Rules for wells deeper than 1,000 feet 11/01/2009
AOGCC says its regulations will apply to wells in the Bristol Bay area because of likelihood of unexpected oil, gas encounters
The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has determined that there is "sufficient likelihood" that wells drilled in designated townships in the Bristol Bay area would "encounter oil, gas or othe...

Orion pool rules expansion in works 10/25/2009
Prudhoe Bay field operator BP Exploration (Alaska) has applied to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission for an amendment of pool rules for Orion, a Schrader Bluff oil reservoir and one of the...

Are Cook Inlet gas supplies in crisis? 10/25/2009
As winter approaches, Chevron manager presents facts, figures about natural gas supply and demand in Southcentral Alaska
Natural gas has flowed out of the Cook Inlet basin with apparent ease for around 40 years, in some ways the life blood of Southcentral Alaska, firing heater furnaces, fueling power stations and suppor...

AOGCC requirements; DNR permits 10/04/2009
Geothermal wells will be drilled with Department of Natural Resources permits, but drilling must meet commission requirements
The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission held a hearing Sept. 23 on a commission motion to require an AOGCC drilling permit for any well with a total vertical depth greater than 1,000 feet in sp...

AOGCC proposes new well abandonment rules 10/04/2009
Regulations would make marker plates welded onto casings new standard, replacing metal posts that already are seldom used
What happens when an oil well plays out, or proves to be a duster, and the owner decides to abandon it? For one thing, it's got to be permanently marked. For a long time that meant erecting a metal ma...

August production holds level with July 09/06/2009
Alaska North Slope crude oil production averaged 572,967 barrels per day in August, an increase of 4,179 bpd or 0.73 percent from the July average of 568,788 bpd. The largest increase, more than 332...

The geothermal dilemma 08/30/2009
DNR has geothermal authority; AOGCC has technical drilling expertise
There's been growing excitement in Alaska the last few years over the possibility of using geothermal energy to create power. At Chena Hot Springs power is being generated using hot springs water. Bu...

Pioneer gets multiple Oooguruk approvals 08/23/2009
Participating areas, multiphase meters approved; development drilling continues; WAG in Nuiqsut, waterflood in Kuparuk planned
Pioneer Natural Resources Alaska received multiple regulatory approvals for its Oooguruk field off Alaska's North Slope north of Kuparuk in late July. The field, which began producing last summer, rep...

BP pushes for AOGCC probe 08/23/2009
Wants 'waste' claim reviewed, punitive damages barred in Prudhoe spill case
Lawyers for BP continue to press for partially diverting a state lawsuit over the 2006 Prudhoe Bay pipeline spills from the courts to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. BP's lawyers also...

Swanson River gas satellites a go; Chevron, Marathon moving ahead 07/19/2009
Both Chevron and Marathon are moving ahead on work at Swanson River satellites where they hope to find commercial quantities of natural gas. This is an area where gas has been known since the 1960s,...

State defends BP suit 07/19/2009
Company trying to 'delay, complicate' Prudhoe spill case, state lawyers say
Lawyers for the state are opposing BP's efforts to toss out part of a lawsuit seeking potentially huge damages stemming from Prudhoe Bay oil spills in 2006. They argue attorneys for BP Exploration (Al...

Pioneer plans four laterals at Oooguruk 06/14/2009
Production has been from Kuparuk formation; two fracture-stimulated producers, two injectors planned for Nuiqsut formation
Initial results from a Nuiqsut formation well at the Pioneer Natural Resources Oooguruk project are encouraging. Pioneer said in a June 9 release that it plans to drill four horizontal laterals i...

State approves Northeast West Sak PA 06/07/2009
The Alaska Division of Oil and Gas has approved a new participating area at Kuparuk, the Northeast West Sak PA. In a May 29 decision the division said the new participating area includes portions of...

Revised annular injection regulations proposed by AOGCC 05/31/2009
The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission is proposing to revise its regulations for annular disposal of drilling waste. The agency said May 21 that the regulations will be fully revised to clari...

Courts likely to see another PT appeal 05/31/2009
Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission denies ExxonMobil reconsideration request on Point Thomson compulsory unitization
With the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission denying a reconsideration application from ExxonMobil, another part of the state's dispute with ExxonMobil and the other former Point Thomson unit o...

BP fights state lawsuit 05/31/2009
Says state overreaching as it seeks to collect huge damages over 2006 spills
Lawyers for BP say the state is "overreaching" with its lawsuit seeking to collect potentially huge fines, back taxes and other damages in connection with disruptive oil spills in the Prudhoe Bay fiel...

Where to from here? 05/24/2009
Will the western Cook Inlet oil fields recover from Redoubt eruption?
While Redoubt Volcano on the west side of Alaska's Cook Inlet continues to rumble, threatening another massive explosion that would hurl ash into the sky and floodwaters down the Drift River on the vo...

AOGCC dismisses unitization petition 04/12/2009
Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission denies ExxonMobil unitization petition, citing differences in statutory authority
The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has dismissed - without prejudice - a petition Exxon Mobil Corp. filed in 2007 for compulsory unitization of the Point Thomson sand unit under the commis...

Two become one in Alpine reservoir 04/05/2009
AOGCC agrees that one of the oil pools in the Nanuq satellite is connected to the Alpine oil pool in the Colville River unit
When in 2005 the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission authorized pool rules for the Nanuq satellite of the Alpine oil field on Alaska's North Slope, the commission recognized two distinct pools:...

Pioneer scales back Oooguruk production 03/29/2009
Delay in water supply for enhanced oil recovery forces reduced production, but company says annual targets should still be met
Pioneer Natural Resources scaled back production at the Oooguruk unit earlier this year because of delays connected with getting a water source for enhanced oil recovery. But Pioneer does not expect t...

Exploration continues 03/29/2009
Through March, six companies in various stages of drilling on the North Slope
Despite some bumps and scraps, the winter exploration season is under way, with six companies in various stages of drilling on state and federal land across the North Slope. Anadarko is getting its wo...

One expansion approved, one deferred 03/08/2009
Prudhoe Bay unit expanded by 1,000 acres; expansion of Orion participating area deferred pending well data to prove up resource
As drilling moves to the northwest in the Orion accumulation in the northwest corner of the Prudhoe Bay unit on Alaska's North Slope, BP Exploration (Alaska) has applied to expand the unit, and the Or...

AOGCC hears Exxon on forced unitization 02/15/2009
Company moves ahead with Point Thomson ice road work; rig ready to go; two-well plan of development out for public review
State regulators and ExxonMobil worked Point Thomson issues from the North Slope - where ice road construction is reported to have begun - to a hearing room in Anchorage the week of Feb. 9. ExxonMobi...