Alaska terminates BP’s Slugger unit
The state of Alaska terminated the 79,508 acre unit Slugger unit on May 16 because the owners of the eastern North Slope prospect had not met a commitment to drill the first Slugger unit well by May 15, state officials told Petroleum News May 28.
State Division of Oil and Gas Director Mark Myers notified unit operator BP Exploration (Alaska) by certified mail of the termination. He said the primary terms of 11 of the unit’s 14 leases have expired and had to be surrendered immediately, plus a drilling extension charge of a $430,000 was due by June 1.
Myers said two of the remaining Slugger leases have not expired and will continue in force until Aug. 15. Oil and gas lease ADL 389656, issued Dec. 1, 2001, with a seven year primary term, will expire Nov. 30, 2008, unless extended.
Note: The full story will appear in the June 1 Petroleum News newspaper.
Canadian Forest lands Central Mackenzie Valley bid
Canadian Forest Oil, an intermediate-sized E&P company that is a strong believer in the potential of Canada’s North, has landed a single exploration parcel in the Central Mackenzie Valley of the Northwest Territories.
Forest made a work commitment of C$1.1 million, including a 25 percent deposit of C$277,162, to secure the parcel which covers almost 197,000 acres south of the producing oilfield at Norman Wells.
The Northern Oil and Gas Directorate of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada announced the successful bid May 29, four months after the call for bids was issued.
The term of the exploration licenses is eight years, requiring the completion of a well during the initial four years to qualify the license-holder to retain a permit for the full eight years.
Canadian Forest, a privately-held unit of Forest Oil, re-entered Canada in 1995, attracted by new exploration opportunities in frontier areas. Its land holdings now stand at 640,000 acres in the Norman Wells, Liard Plateau and Mackenzie River Valley of the NWT, along with the Mackenzie Delta and Beaufort Sea, plus the Foothills play in Alberta and British Columbia.
The Canadian acreage almost matches that of Forest’s combined acreage in the Lower 48 and Gulf of Mexico offshore.
Note: The full story will appear in the June 8 Petroleum News newspaper.
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