The Explorers 2010: FEX – Talisman Energy

After a quick windup in Alaska, FEX now appears to be slowly winding down. The local subsidiary of Canadian independent Talisman is responsible for some of the most remote wildcats recently drilled in Alaska. Talisman arrived on the North Slope in 2003 and began drilling the following year as FEX, both alone and in partnership with the French company Total. Searching in the far western lands of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, FEX needed big finds to justify developing the remote regions, far from the nearest infrastructure. FEX announced a find in 2007, but executive changes at Talisman put a question mark on FEX’s activities. Alaska made the cut in May 2008, and FEX began ramping up operations again using a slate of newer seismic data. In March 2010, though, the company suggested that 1 million net acres in the NPR-A were up for sale. This summer, FEX dropped 94,135 offshore state acres in Harrison Bay and a prospect southwest of White Hills that contained BP’s 1 Itkillik Unit well. FEX still currently holds some 108,000 acres in state leases, a cluster of offshore acreage in Smith Bay.

Current exploration focus:

Northern Alaska: FEX does not appear to be planning exploration work for Alaska, having announced that 1 million net acres of its NPR-A acreage are up for sale.