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Rumors of Great Bear closing false; Oil Search staffing up
Rumors of Great Bear Petroleum Operating LLC closing its doors are false, and probably stem from the Anchorage-based company letting go some of its technical people, Pat Galvin, Great Bear’s chief commercial officer and general counsel, recently told Petroleum News.
“Great Bear currently holds outstanding cashable tax credit certificates worth approximately $44 million. The state has previously purchased tax credits from Great Bear worth tens of millions, with the most recent purchase of approximately $5 million this past August from the appropriation approved by the Legislature this summer,” Galvin said.
As a result of the unpaid tax credits and difficulties borrowing for exploration in a still uncertain oil price market, the independent can’t drill as planned this winter and thus had to lay off several technical people.
Great Bear first brought Oil Search to Alaska Another rumor about Great Bear being the first oil company to bring Oil Search officials to Alaska proved true.
About three years ago Galvin led a helicopter tour of the North Slope and Great Bear’s acreage there.
Oil Search’s top executive for Alaska, Keiran Wulff, the company’s current executive general manager for exploration and new business; confirmed his predecessor headed up the Oil Search group that Galvin introduced to the North Slope.
Wulff told PN Nov. 13, that Oil Search had “reviewed” Great Bear’s opportunity “but we had no interest in pursuing it further at that time.”
(Note: Oil Search said in a Nov. 1 statement that, among other things, its deal with Armstrong included the giant Nanushuk discovery - and the Hue shale.)
Oil Search’s decision to turn down a deal with Great Bear was about a year before it became evident that since 2014 Great Bear, which entered the Alaska oil scene in 2010 seeking shale oil plays on the North Slope, had changed its exploration strategy to a more conventional approach.
In April 2016 Galvin told a Senate hearing the company was first going after more conventional oil prospects in its acreage, to lay the starting infrastructure for a potential future shale oil program.
Connection between ASX firms Oil Search and Otto Energy? The recent deal between Armstrong and Oil Search begs the question: Is there any link between Oil Search and Otto Energy, part owner of Great Bear
Other than the fact both companies are listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, none whatsoever, Wulff told PN.
Otto, by the way, closed the purchase of Great Bear’s minority working interest owner Borealis in October 2015.
Wulff told PN, “We don’t know Otto apart from knowing they are from Australia and we have no common interests.”
Oil Search increase staff in Anchorage office Word is Oil Search is keeping most of the small staff Armstrong had based in its Anchorage office.
Wulff had this to say on the subject of additional staff: “Oil Search intends to base its operations, development, community relations, government affairs, and support teams in Anchorage. We will build up the work force to meet the work program demands. I would imagine that we will have between 30 (and) 50 by year end to support the … (upcoming winter) drilling program and if all goes well we will build appropriately from there to support the development but it is our intention to have a strong local presence which is the model for Oil Search.”
- KAY CASHMAN
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