Exxon relinquishes three PTU-area leases

Exxon Mobil has relinquished three un-unitized leases bordering the Point Thomson unit on the eastern North Slope, according to state leasing records from April.

The three leases — ADL 390311, ADL 390312 and ADL 390313 — sat along the northern boundary of the unit, in the waters of the Beaufort Sea. They were set to expire on March 31, 2010. Exxon did not ask for the leases to be included in the unit.

Exxon, which drilled and cased a Point Thomson well this year, previously said it would use horizontal wells to tap the offshore sections of the Thomson sands reservoir.

Started in 2009 and reaching target depth this year, Exxon drilled the PTU-15 well from an onshore pad to a natural gas reservoir more than a mile and a half offshore.

In other leasing news, Arctic Slope Regional Corp. transferred eight leases to its subsidiary ASRC Exploration LLC. The leases are scattered between the Kuparuk River and Colville River units. The leases are near the site of the Atlas No. 1 well Phillips drilled in 2001 and the Placer No. 1 and No. 2 wells ConocoPhillips drilled in 2004.

All eight of the leases expire on Jan. 31, 2012.

In addition, Denver-based independent Savant Alaska transferred two leases near the Badami unit to ASRC Exploration. The first lease, ADL 391380, is adjacent to the northwest corner of the unit and expires on Aug. 31, 2014. The other lease, ADL 391431, is adjacent to the southeast corner of the unit and expires on May 31, 2014.

Badami is on the eastern North Slope, just west of Point Thomson. Along with unit operator BP, Savant and ASRC have been partnering on a Badami drilling campaign.

— Eric Lidji

Editor’s note: A copyrighted oil and gas lease map from Mapmakers Alaska (www.mapmakersalaska.com/) was a research tool used in preparing this story.