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Talisman to let Alaska acreage expire
Talisman Energy is continuing its march away from Alaska.
The Calgary-based independent expects that its acreage in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and the foothills of the Brooks Range mountains will “expire or be relinquished without renewal,” according to year-end filings released on Feb. 28.
Talisman, which operates in the state through its subsidiary FEX, holds more than 500,000 net acres in Alaska. FEX is responsible for some of the most remote wildcats drilled in the past two decades, but began to lose interest in Alaska in recent years.
The news is the most recent sign that Talisman is done with Alaska.
Acreage on block last year In March 2010, Talisman put more than 1 million net acres in NPR-A and the Brooks Range foothills up for sale, but did not appear to find a buyer. In the summer, the company began dropping state acreage, relinquishing 94,135 acres straddling Harrison Bay, offshore NPR-A, and 63,110 onshore acres some 50 miles east of Umiat. In September 2010, FEX relinquished 56 leases in NPR-A held with Petro-Canada.
FEX still holds 108,000 acres in state leases in Smith Bay that expire on Feb. 28, 2014.
FEX also operates acreage in NPR-A in partnership with Petro-Canada. Some of that acreage expires on Sept. 30, 2014, but most does not expire until Jan. 31, 2017.
Alaska is one of four “frontier areas” in Talisman’s North American portfolio. Talisman holds 6.4 million gross and 3.6 million net acres in Alaska and the Yukon, Northwest and Nunavut Territories in Canada. The vast majority of that acreage is undeveloped.
Talisman is increasingly focusing on North American shale plays.
—Eric Lidji
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