Rick Fox: Shell in Alaska for long haul 11/25/2007
Although a lawsuit has put Beaufort Sea drilling on hold in 2007 company moved ahead with Chukchi seismic and other programs
Despite the setback of a court-enforced suspension of Shell's Beaufort Sea drilling program, Rick Fox, the company's Alaska asset manager, gave an upbeat assessment of Shell's progress in Alaska at th...

THE EXPLORERS 2007: Small independents in high gear 11/18/2007
Five small EandP gas companies plan to drill exploration wells on Alaska's North Slope winter 2007-08
Five small independent oil and gas companies expect to drill exploration wells on Alaska's North Slope in the winter exploration season of 2007-08. In the past, the highest number of small independent...

THE EXPLORERS 2007: Exploring on pause, development on go 11/18/2007
Pioneer focusing on Oooguruk development, Cosmo delineation; exploration still on hold due to disappointing results, concern about Alaska's tax regime
Dallas-based Pioneer Natural Resources has no immediate plans to resume its Alaska oil and gas exploration program, Timothy Dove, Pioneer's president and chief operating officer, said on Sept. 27, 200...

THE EXPLORERS 2007: Eni moving forward with Nikaitchuq 11/18/2007
Beaufort Sea project sanction expected by end of 2007, first oil 2009; Maggiore, Rock Flour undergoing evaluation
The signs are good that Eni will move forward with development of its Nikaitchuq unit offshore Alaska's North Slope in 2008. On Oct. 5, 2007, the Houston-based affiliate of Italy's Eni SpA received S...

THE EXPLORERS 2007: Shell never really left Alaska 11/18/2007
2007 Beaufort drilling plans on hold due to a court order, Odom says will continue to listen, learn, work with local people
When Shell re-entered Alaska in October 2001 with the $2.4 million acquisition of 56,000 acres on the North Slope, Alaskans watched to see what the U.S. EandP arm of Royal Dutch Shell would do next. Fo...

THE EXPLORERS 2007: Repsol partners with Eni, Shell in Beaufort Sea 11/18/2007
In September 2007, Repsol YPF joined a Shell/Eni partnership in a block of 64 leases in the Beaufort Sea off Alaska's North Slope. It was the Spanish oil and gas major's first acquisition in the state...

THE EXPLORERS 2007: FEX puts NPR-A drilling on pause 11/18/2007
Independent remains committed, but concerned about land access, high costs, fiscal regime, postpones drilling for two years
FEX L.P.'s decision to put its Alaska drilling program on pause for two years came as a surprise to everyone except those paying attention to the federal government's cancellation of National Petroleu...

THE EXPLORERS 2007: Armstrong, Total back in the game 11/18/2007
An affiliate of Denver-based Armstrong Oil and Gas and a subsidiary of Paris-based Total S.A. returned to Alaska in 2007. When independent Armstrong Alaska LLC and Houston-based major Total EandP USA In...

THE EXPLORERS 2007: Alaska gets $2 million from lease sales 11/18/2007
An Alaska investor group and a new company dominated the State of Alaska's annual North Slope and Beaufort Sea areawide lease sales. When bids were read Oct. 24 in Anchorage by Acting Director of the...

THE EXPLORERS 2007: Welcome to The Explorers 2007 11/18/2007
Welcome to The Explorers annual magazine, which got its start as The Independents in 2002. We changed the name to The Explorers in 2004 because it was evident, as oil prices began to rise, that there...

AOGCC sets Oooguruk pool rules hearing 11/18/2007
The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has set a hearing Dec. 18 for pool rules for Oooguruk. The agency said Pioneer Natural Resources Alaska Inc., the Oooguruk operator, has requested an or...

Seven drilling ANS exploration wells 11/18/2007
Gas target of two Anadarko's wells; four small independents to drill; Chevron starts multi-year exploratory program in Foothills
Seven oil and gas companies plan to drill exploration wells on Alaska's North Slope this winter; an eighth company is moving forward with plans to re-enter an old exploration well on an undeveloped pr...

U.S. must boost Arctic presence 10/28/2007
Response needed due to coastal erosion, territorial claims, increased shipping, industrial activity
The Arctic seas are opening and the United States needs to ratchet up its presence in the region. That was the message conveyed by Rear Admiral Arthur Brooks, commander of the 17th U.S. Coast Guard Di...

Prentice clearing regulatory jungle 10/28/2007
Canada industry minister says will establish Major Projects Office, unravel regulatory tangle that has impeded resource projects
Canada Industry Minister Jim Prentice says he will deliver where others have failed and unravel the regulatory tangle that has choked off major resource and mining projects. He said the federal govern...

Alaska gets $2M in bids 10/28/2007
Bidders at Beaufort, North Slope sales fill in around prospects, only 2 big bidders
An Alaska investor group and a new company dominated the State of Alaska's annual North Slope and Beaufort Sea areawide lease sales. When bids were read in Anchorage Oct. 24 by Acting Director of the...

Beaufort Sea looms large 10/28/2007
Huebert: Arctic claims potentially 'nastier' than Northwest Passage dispute
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has set in motion Canada's plans to militarize its Arctic sovereignty claims amid a gathering Cold War over the region that threatens, among other things, to pit Canada a...

FEX puts NPR-A drilling on pause 10/21/2007
Independent remains committed, but concerned about land access, high costs, fiscal regime, postpones drilling for two years
FEX L.P.'s decision to put its Alaska drilling program on pause for two years came as a surprise to everyone except those paying attention to the federal government's cancellation of National Petroleu...

Beaufort find is oil, not gas 10/21/2007
Devon Canada gas hunt yields oil; company seeks partners; oil poses challenges
Devon Canada has posted the first oil find in the Canadian Beaufort Sea in 25 years - a twist of fortune for the company which had been hoping for trillions of cubic feet of gas to spur progress on th...

Nikaitchuq OK'd 10/21/2007
Expansion approved; Eni applies for royalty reduction, needs project sanction
Eni US Operating Co. has received state approval for expansion of its Nikaitchuq unit and has applied for royalty modification for a dozen leases in the expanded unit. The Alaska Department of Natura...

ARCTIC ENERGY SUMMIT: High Arctic: industry's last oil and gas frontier 10/14/2007
There's one thing industry hopefully can look to when the Earth's offshore oil and gas resources south of the giant Arctic icecap are exhausted. Many geologists now believe this vast and frigid region...

30 STRONG: Meeting Northstar's challenges 10/14/2007
Technology helps island development succeed in sensitive environment with leak detection, smart wells
In developing the 200 million-barrel Northstar field some six miles offshore in the icy Beaufort Sea, BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. placed a tall order with its engineering teams: Find a way to overcom...

30 STRONG: UERD for offshore development 10/14/2007
Ultra extended reach drilling enables Liberty offshore development without gravel island
Directional drilling of wells that deviate far from the vertical has proved a key technology in accessing much of the North Slope's vast oil reserves. But drilling to horizontal departures of tens of...

30 STRONG: Reducing development footprint 10/14/2007
Directional drilling, technical innovations dramatically reduce environmental impact
For anyone wanting to see a case-book example of how environmental protection can make perfect business sense, Alaska's North Slope oil industry makes a pretty good place to look. Technical innovation...

30 STRONG: Mega-line drives industry technology 10/14/2007
30-year old trans-Alaska pipeline adopts best new technology for safe, reliable operation
In the 30 years since operators moved the first barrel of Prudhoe Bay oil down the trans-Alaska pipeline in 1977, improvements in technology have illuminated the path forward on Alaska's North Slope. ...

Feds will support Shell 10/14/2007
Luthi: MMS won't back off, stands behind decision to allow Beaufort Sea drilling
The federal government will fight to clear the way for Shell's exploratory oil drilling campaign in the Beaufort Sea off Alaska, a top U.S. official said Oct. 10. The U.S. Minerals Management Servic...