Logistics key to Point Thomson project 12/06/2009
Last year's ice road only available to move materials for four weeks; barges used in summer; rolligons moved significant amounts
ExxonMobil has been fighting a running battle with the State of Alaska over development of its North Slope Point Thomson field - but it has also been waging a logistics battle to get equipment and sup...

TG World positive on NS exploration 12/06/2009
BRPC JV partner spells out some details of seismic and drilling program across the North Slope; sees value of exploration credits
As the only outfit engaged in exploration onshore or offshore northern Alaska this winter, Brooks Range Petroleum Corp., operator for a joint venture of small independents, looks like having a lonely...

New Cook Inlet operator 12/06/2009
Local firm looks to take over abandoned Pacific Energy assets in $2.25M deal
Pacific Energy Resources Ltd. has won court permission to reclaim some of its abandoned Cook Inlet oil and gas assets for purposes of a sale to a new operator. The key action came on Nov. 25, when a U...

The Explorers 2009: Northern Alaska and Arctic offshore 11/15/2009
In 1968 the discovery of the giant Prudhoe Bay field, the first field to be discovered on Alaska's North Slope and among the 20 largest oil fields ever discovered worldwide, triggered a northern Alask...

The Explorers 2009: Cook Inlet basin 11/15/2009
Cook Inlet, a major sea inlet between the Kenai Peninsula and the mainland of Southcentral Alaska, lies over part of a deep sedimentary basin that has formed between the Kenai Mountains and the mounta...

Pacific Energy finds buyer 11/15/2009
Cook Inlet Energy tops auction for abandoned assets including Redoubt
Pacific Energy Resources Ltd. appears primed to deal some of its oil and gas holdings in Alaska's Cook Inlet to a newly formed Anchorage company partly owned by a former Pacific Energy employee. But b...

Oil Patch Bits: Peak expands Cook Inlet division operations 11/08/2009
On Oct. 23 Cook Inlet Region Inc.'s Web site carried an article reporting on Peak Oilfield Service Co.'s Cook Inlet division expanding its operations in CIRI's home region. With improved infrastructur...

Hasty Cook Inlet auction 11/08/2009
Sale set as part of Pacific Energy plan to recoup, liquidate assets it abandoned
The fate of some oil and gas assets Pacific Energy Resources Ltd. abandoned in Alaska's Cook Inlet remained in limbo as the company worked to regain control of the properties and sell them at auction....

Wanted: Operator for Cook Inlet fields 10/11/2009
The State of Alaska is looking for a contractor to come up with a longer-term solution for the Cook Inlet basin assets abandoned in bankruptcy proceedings by operator Pacific Energy Resources. Among t...

Railbelt crossroads 10/11/2009
Gas-dependent SC Alaska tries to determine how to meet energy needs
As the Municipality of Anchorage prepares for the possibility of natural gas shortages during the cold of the coming winter, shortages that would cause the electric utilities to activate contingency p...

Arctic Directory: Nabors announces realignment 09/20/2009
Nabors Industries Ltd. said June 11 that Larry P. Heidt will assume the role of chairman and CEO of Nabors Well Services Ltd. Heidt has been with Nabors more than 17 years, initially serving as presid...

Arctic Directory: Nabors appoints John V. Lombardi as director 09/20/2009
Nabors said April 27 that its board of directors voted to expand the board to eight members from the current seven and subsequently appointed John V. Lombardi to fill the newly created vacancy. Dr. Lo...

Exxon sews up production well starts 09/13/2009
Drilling kicks off $1.3 billion Point Thomson gas cycling project; key rulings expected in dispute between Alaska and companies
ExxonMobil announced Sept. 9 it has completed drilling and casing the surface section of the first production well in the company's billion-dollar project to produce hydrocarbon liquids from the Point...

Big money going offshore 08/16/2009
With oil and gas employment in Alaska at an all-time high for the fourth year in a row, crude prices bumping $70 per barrel, four northern Alaska oil fields under development, and the world's majors l...

Eni aims for 2010 oil 08/16/2009
Italian firm submits revised plan for Nikaitchuq field, cites work already done
Back in February, managers for Eni Petroleum were explaining to Alaska industry regulators how plunging oil prices and other complications had shifted their fast-track Nikaitchuq oil field development...

Risk to reward 08/09/2009
Exploration takes breather, but project development has North Slope buzzing
If you've been to Alaska's North Slope in the last few months you know that beds and trucks are in short supply and Deadhorse, the center of oilfield activity, looks like a boom town. "There are more...

Tough times in oil and gas service sector 08/02/2009
Peters and Co. slashes 2009 Western Canada, U.S. 2009 activity forecast; Precision Drilling CEO believes drilling has bottomed out
Soft natural gas prices, capital spending cutbacks and relentless demands for reduced labor and materials costs from oil sands operators spell tough times for Canada's supply and service sector. Calga...

BP in Alaska: Initial Prudhoe field development 07/12/2009
In the late 1960s and early 1970s development drilling was under way at Prudhoe Bay, using Nabors 18-E and Brinkerhoff Rig 36. Everett Potter, now retired, was a drilling consultant for BP. Potter say...

Alberta tries for 'fifth time' lucky 07/05/2009
Adds another year to drilling incentives; industry sees competitiveness review as best chance for government to 'get it right'
Once a global beacon of oil and natural gas investment stability, Alberta is making frantic efforts to regain that reputation by trying to arrest the plunging fortunes of an industry that gave it 12 s...

Oil Patch Bits: Nabors announces realignment 06/21/2009
Nabors Industries Ltd. said June 11 that Larry P. Heidt will assume the role of chairman and CEO of Nabors Well Services Ltd. Heidt has been with Nabors more than 17 years, initially serving as presid...

Exxon sets first Point Thomson well 06/14/2009
Initial well, an injector, drilled to 5,000-foot limit with producer to spud soon; highly modified Nabors rig performs just fine
ExxonMobil already has achieved a minor milestone in its nascent drilling campaign at Point Thomson, the disputed North Slope oil and gas field. On May 22 workers finished setting surface casing o...

Thomson legal battle rages 06/07/2009
Palin sounds conciliatory note at Exxon lunch; hails project launch, local hiring
ExxonMobil has resumed drilling at Point Thomson after many years, and Gov. Sarah Palin actually had some words of praise in early June for a company she has jabbed from time to time. But these develo...

Oil Patch Bits: Nabors appoints John V. Lombardi as director 05/10/2009
Nabors said April 27 that its board of directors voted to expand the board to eight members from the current seven and subsequently appointed John V. Lombardi to fill the newly created vacancy. Dr. Lo...

New finds in NPR-A 05/10/2009
Conoco reports Mooses Tooth oil; 5 other companies finish winter drilling
ConocoPhillips on May 4 announced test results from two wells drilled in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska in recent winters: Pioneer No. 1 and the Rendezvous No. 2. "Test production rates for the...

Nabors rig in place at Point Thomson 04/26/2009
Nabors rig 27E has reached Point Thomson - and ExxonMobil has provided pictures illustrating that fact. The rig has been modified for drilling the high-pressure wells at the Point Thomson field on Al...