Companies racking up drilling permits

Anadarko gets another for Wolf Creek, Chevron gets one more at White Hills, ConocoPhillips applies for first permit at Mooses Tooth

Eric Lidji

Petroleum News

State and federal officials recently issued additional drilling permits to Anadarko, Chevron and ConocoPhillips for North Slope exploration work planned for this winter.

ConocoPhillips is starting to get permits for a pair of exploration wells in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The wells require both state and federal drilling permits.

On Jan. 15, the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission approved a permit for the company to drill the Grandview No. 1 well. In the week prior, the company applied for a permit from the Bureau of Land Management to drill Grandview No. 1 and the Pioneer No. 1 well.

Grandview No. 1 and Pioneer No. 1 are planned for the Greater Mooses Tooth unit, near the Colville River, west of the village of Nuiqsut. ConocoPhillips has said a recent slowdown in capital spending shouldn’t impact the program. (See related story on page 1.)

Outlining exploration plans this past fall, ConocoPhillips said the two wells would target new oil and gas accumulations, as well as expand on previous discoveries in the area.

Grandview No. 1 is planned for federal lease AA-81785 in the southwest corner of the Greater Mooses Tooth unit, while Pioneer No. 1 is planned for federal lease AA-081779 in the southeast corner of the unit. The company plans to drill both using Doyon rig 141.

Since the federal government began leasing land in NPR-A more than a decade ago, ConocoPhillips has been the most active explorer in the area, drilling 18 wells. BLM, an arm of the U.S. Department of the Interior, formed Greater Mooses Tooth last January.

ConocoPhillips operates the unit, but Anadarko holds a 22 percent working interest.

Last October, ConocoPhillips staked four well locations in and around Mooses Tooth.

Anadarko gets BLM permit

On Jan. 15, BLM issued a permit for Anadarko to drill the Wolf Creek No. 4 exploration well in the northwest planning area of NPR-A, 30 miles west of Umiat.

Wolf Creek No. 4 is one of three wells Anadarko plans to drill this winter in its far-reaching, multiyear search for natural gas in the western foothills of the Brooks Range.

Anadarko plans to use the Doyon Arctic Fox rig to drill the well to a depth of some 4,000 feet to test the Nanushuk formation. The well location is in federal lease AA-86604.

The company has already received a drilling permit for Wolf Creek No. 4 from AOGCC, required for any well drilled in Alaska.

Anadarko also plans to drill in the Gubik and Chandler fields east of Umiat this winter.

On Jan. 14, Anadarko received an AOGCC permit to drill the Gubik No. 4 well, a follow up to the Gubik No. 3 well the company drilled in the area east of Umiat last winter.

This winter, Anadarko also plans to complete the Chandler No. 1 well spud last year.

The company will use Nabors rig 105-E to drill both Chandler No. 1 and Gubik No. 4.

Anadarko now has all the drilling permits it needs for its three-well program this winter.

The company is partnering on the exploration effort with Petro-Canada and BG.

Chevron gets third permit

Stegodon 24-6-8 would sit on state lease ADL 390931, toward the northern end of the prospect, located in the central North Slope west of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline corridor.

Stegodon 24-6-8 is one of four new White Hills well locations Chevron permitted this year. Chevron permitted 15 proposed locations for the 2007-08 winter drilling season.

The permit is the third issued for the program this winter. Chevron drilled three wells at White Hills last year. The company plans to use Nabors rig 106E to drill the new wells.

Chevron has said it is looking for both oil and gas at White Hills. Chevron is partnering on the exploration program with the French oil company Total.