Donkel and Cade get Stinson-area leases
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State OKs transfer of five leases surrounding the Stinson No. 1 exploration well drilled north of ANWR in 1990 by ARCO Alaska
Eric Lidji Petroleum News
State land managers have approved a transfer of working and royalty interest in a plot of acreage in the waters north of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on the North Slope.
The transfer gives five leases to the partnership of Dan Donkel and Samuel Cade. The leases previously belonged to a joint venture led by Brooks Range Petroleum Corp.
The five leases expire May 31, 2011.
The leases surround a sixth lease picked up by Donkel and Cade last year. The lease, ADL 371024, contains the Stinson No. 1 well drilled by ARCO Alaska in 1990.
The state certified the Stinson well in February 1997, marking it as capable of producing oil or gas in paying quantities, but ARCO and the companies that followed it never developed the prospect, saying the reserves at Stinson weren’t independently economic.
New interest in discovery Recent developments in the eastern North Slope may create new interest in Stinson.
First, ExxonMobil is currently moving drilling equipment to a pad at Point Thomson, about 12 miles west of Stinson No. 1, to support a drilling program expected to start this winter.
Second, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, recently introduced legislation to open the coastal plain of ANWR, also known as Area 1002, using directional drilling from outside the boundaries of the region. The legislation hasn’t gained much traction so far this year.
The joint venture led by Brooks Range Petroleum Corp. sold the five leases to Donkel and Cade in early February. The state approved the transfer in early March.
Bow Valley near closing The joint venture is one step closer to having a new member.
On April 9, the shareholders of Bow Valley Energy, a Calgary independent and currently one of the four companies in the joint venture, approved the sale of all outstanding shares of the company to U.K.-based independent Dana Petroleum. The favorable vote now allows the companies to move toward trying to close the deal before the end of April.
The measure passed with support of around 97 percent of the voting shareholders.
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