|
Anadarko plans return for foothills gas
Anadarko is planning its strategy for returning to gas prospects on the western North Slope near the edge of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
The company drilled two wells, Gubik No. 3 and Chandler No. 1, in the foothills of the Brooks Range this winter as part of a two- or three-year program to prove up gas accumulations discovered back in the early 1950s by the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Geological Survey, and to test deeper formations.
The drilling program was the first to deliberately target gas in northern Alaska.
Anadarko said it “encountered natural gas in two zones” at the Gubik No. 3 well just east of the Colville River, northeast of the village of Umiat.
Anadarko suspended the Chandler No. 1 well just to the south, and left the Nabors rig 105 at the ice pad. Spokesman Mark Hanley said the expectation is to return next year to finish the deep gas well.
Other plans for next year could include one or more of the five other wells proposed at Gubik. Anadarko’s partners in the Brooks Range Foothills are BG Group and PetroCanada.
By announcing a gas exploration program in the foothills, Anadarko expressed some faith in the ongoing process to build a large-diameter natural gas pipeline from Alaska’s North Slope to markets outside the state.
Since starting the drilling program, however, the options for Gubik gas have increased as Enstar Natural Gas recently renewed discussions of a $3.3 billion bullet line from Gubik to Southcentral Alaska.
$31 million spent in Alaska this year In addition to its majority-owned prospects, Anadarko also maintains a minority position in the ConocoPhillips-operated Colville River unit.
In first-quarter filings, Anadarko said gross production at Colville River was around 110,000 barrels of oil per day.
Work there this winter included “several” development wells in the Fiord area using a rig eventually headed for work at Qannik in the later part of the year.
“In addition, construction continues for various modules in connection with the Qannik development at CD2 with initial production from this reservoir anticipated to begin in late 2008,” the filings said.
Anadarko and ConocoPhillips also brought a rig to the Nanuq area at the end of the quarter “to drill and complete up to two development wells.”
Anadarko spent $31 million in capital expenses in Alaska in the first quarter of the year. Companywide, the mega-independent has spent $1.056 billion in capital expense so far this year.
— Eric Lidji
| 