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March 2011

Vol. 16, No. 11 Week of March 13, 2011

Statoil moves toward Chukchi drilling

Company has identified two prospects and plans to start site survey work, as well as reconnoitering possible pipeline routes

Alan Bailey

Petroleum News

Following a successful 3-D seismic survey in its Chukchi Sea leases in the fall of 2010, Statoil has identified “positive indications” from the seismic data and plans to take the first steps towards some exploration drilling, Statoil lead geoscientist April Parsons told the National Marine Fisheries Service Arctic Open-water Meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, on March 8.

The company has identified two prospects in its leases, naming one prospect “Amundsen,” after the Norwegian explorer, and the other prospect “Augustine,” after the Alaska volcano, Parsons said. The prospects are about 150 miles west of Barrow, and about 100 miles offshore from the village of Wainwright, she said.

“These are our two primary prospect locations and we have identified some preliminary drilling locations,” Parsons said.

Statoil owns leases in partnership with Italian major Eni in the northern part of the Chukchi Sea, as well as owning a 25 percent stake in some ConocoPhillips-operated Chukchi Sea leases.

Initial surveying

As part of preparation for an exploration plan that includes the drilling of wells, Statoil plans to conduct site surveying and seabed coring during the 2011 open water season, Parsons said.

A survey vessel, the M/V Duke, will conduct about 2,500 line kilometers of shallow seismic surveys in the prospect areas, obtaining seafloor imagery and high-resolution bathymetry, and using the seismic to locate any shallow drilling hazards. The survey team will also collect some data along potential pipeline corridors from the prospects.

Any developments in the Statoil leases would need to connect by subsea pipeline to a facility shared with other Chukchi Sea operators, to transfer products by pipeline to shore, Parsons said.

“Developments in the Chukchi, we feel, will have to be a cooperative effort between all of the operators here,” she said.

Core sampling

Statoil’s other 2011 open-water season activity will involve the M/V Fugro Synergy, a drillship equipped with dynamic positioning and echo sounder capabilities, doing core sampling of the seabed at potential drilling sites, Parsons said. In addition to coring at Statoil sites, the team will do some coring at some potential ConocoPhillips drill sites, she said.

And depending on available time, the survey teams may collect seafloor samples for the investigation of ice gouging.

The survey vessels will mobilize from Dutch Harbor in the Aleutians on July 15, in preparation to be on site on Aug. 1; coring should start on Aug. 15. All work should be completed by early October but could continue through mid-November, Parsons said. Statoil has started work on a plan of cooperation with North Slope communities and has already visited several villages, she said.

Karin Berentsen, Statoil’s Alaska HSE and stakeholder advisor, said that Statoil is negotiating a conflict avoidance agreement with North Slope whalers.






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