True North releases assessment

True North Energy Corp. has announced the results of an initial geological and geophysical assessment of its Harriet Point prospect on the west side of the Cook Inlet — a team of geoscientists has estimated 180 million to 700 million barrels of recoverable oil in the prospect that occurs in 17,000 acres of contiguous leases in onshore and offshore areas along the coastline of Trading Bay.

True North recently purchased the leases from private Cook Inlet leaseholders (see “Independent makes aggressive Alaska play” in the June 25 edition of Petroleum News). A team of geoscientists led by Jerry Hodgden of Hodgden and Associates completed the assessment using some earlier geological work by Hodgden and using seismic data that includes data that True North licensed in 2006.

“This initial assessment of the Harriet Point Prospect, although limited in scope, is very encouraging and presents an excellent high reward/high risk exploratory opportunity for us,” True North President and CEO John Folnovic said. “We are planning to conduct further seismic analysis to confirm and refine the current interpretation and to further define the Harriet Point prospect.”

Folnovic also said that his company is holding preliminary discussions with several companies regarding a potential joint venture in the Cook Inlet.

True North has purchased other acreage in the Cook Inlet and on the North Slope; Folnovic told Petroleum News June 21 that True North plans to showcase its Alaska projects at a popular oil and gas conference in Houston in August.

—Alan Bailey