The Explorers 2009: Brooks Range Petroleum Corp.

Brooks Range Petroleum Corp. is the operating arm of the Kansas-based Alaska Venture Capital Group and the lead company in a multipartner venture responsible for some of the most active drilling on the North Slope in recent years. AVCG arrived in Alaska in 1999, taking advantage of the Charter for Development of the North Slope that set out terms for smaller companies to lease facilities and use other resources. The company quickly bought a lot of acreage on the North Slope, but found the economics on Arctic Alaska unsuitable for drilling. The company solved the problem by creating BRPC and partnering with three other independents. Today, the companies hold some 238,000 acres across several North Slope regions.

The joint venture drilled wells in the Gwydyr Bay area and the area east of Nuiqsut. In the winter of 2008, BRPC drilled two wells in Gwydyr Bay. The first, a re-entering of North Shore No. 1, flowed at 2,092 barrels per day, but mechanical problems prevented the second well from being properly tested. The company also drilled the Tofkat No. 1 well near Nuiqsut, finding six feet of net pay.

Last winter, BRPC announced a development plan for the Gwydyr Bay region but while the state formed the Beechey Point unit around the area, a now-resolved lawsuit between two companies in the joint venture postponed drilling plans. The company is also planning to shoot seismic at its Slugger prospect south of the Point Thomson unit.

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