|
AOGCC issues Badami drilling permit
The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission issued a permit on Jan. 28 for Savant Alaska LLC to drill the Badami Unit B1-38 exploration well on the eastern North Slope.
Savant proposes to start the well at an existing Badami gravel pad, and head west with a proposed bottomhole location sitting outside of the Badami Sands Participating Area.
The Badami unit sits just west of Point Thomson on the coast of Mikkelsen Bay.
BP owns and operates the Badami unit, but through a partnership arranged last year, Savant will operate a drilling program this winter aiming to bring the unit back into sustained production. Arctic Slope Regional Corp. is also participating in the program.
Two wells planned For the past decade, Badami has been suspended and restarted as BP attempted to bring the field, which has a very complex geology, into sustained commercial production.
Under the terms of a development plan approved by the state last year, the companies are required to drill an exploration well by Sept. 30, 2009, and a development well by Sept. 30, 2010. Savant has previously said it intends to fulfill both commitments this winter.
Savant plans to use the Doyon 16 rig for the program this winter.
Savant Alaska is the local subsidiary of Denver-based Savant Resources LLC.
The permit is the eighth issued for North Slope exploration since November.
—Eric Lidji
| 