Walsh, Beckham to stay with Oil & Gas
The director and deputy director of the Division of Oil and Gas are staying on with the Dunleavy administration under Alaska Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Corri Feige.
Chantal Walsh, director, and James "Jim" Beckham, deputy director, "are welcome to work here as long as they want to," DNR communications director Dan Saddler told Petroleum News.
Both Walsh and Beckham have said they are happy to stay.
- KAY CASHMAN
ANWR land transfer a priority
With the state of Alaska still owed 5 million acres by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management under the 1959 Alaska Statehood Act, the recent conveyance of 39,995 acres in the Goodnews Bay area cast hope on the state's efforts to secure 19,322 acres in disputed acreage along the boundary of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The wedge of uplands between the Canning and Staines rivers continues to be listed as a high priority area by the state, Marty Parsons, deputy director of the state Division of Mining, Land & Water, told Petroleum News Jan. 6.
In a statement following Goodnews Bay, Ted Murphy, acting BLM Alaska state director, said that conveyance was "just one of many we anticipate in the near future."
- KAY CASHMAN
Eni buys Oooguruk operatorship
Eni has entered into an agreement with Caelus Natural Resources Alaska to acquire 70 percent and operatorship of the near-shore Oooguruk oil field, west of the central North Slope.
The Milan-based major already owns a 30 percent working interest in Oooguruk.
The deal gives Eni 7,000 barrels of oil per day and allows it to "implement important operational synergies and optimizations" with its nearby Nikaitchuq field, which produces 18,000 bpd.
Eni says it plans to drill more production wells at Oooguruk and Nikaitchuq, with a "target to increase its total Alaska production" to more than 30,000 bpd.
- KAY CASHMAN
See stories in Jan. 6 issue, available online Friday, Jan. 4, at www.PetroleumNews.com
For information on PN's news bulletin service, call 907-522-9469. PO Box 231651, Anchorage, AK 99523 - 1651
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