Storm Cat to drill Northern Dancer well

On Jan. 25 the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission issued a permit for Storm Cat Energy’s Northern Dancer No. 1 gas well near Big Lake, in Alaska’s Matanuska-Susitna Borough, north of Anchorage. And A Petroleum News source said Kuukpik Rig 5 is on its way to the well site to do the drilling.

The well location is at section 1, township 17 north, range 4 west of the Seward meridian.

Storm Cat is exploring for conventional natural gas but also expects to assess the potential for coalbed methane, company President Scott Zimmerman has previously told Petroleum News.

Storm Cat picked up two leases in the November 2004 Mental Health Trust Land Office lease sale and eight leases in the State of Alaska’s May 2005 Cook Inlet state areawide lease sale. All of the leases lie in the same general area of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. The company has been using existing seismic data to assess its leases and in 2005 engaged an Alaska consulting firm to do a geologic evaluation, with the intent of selecting a drilling location.

Storm Cat is registered in British Columbia and has offices in Denver, Calgary and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Northern Dancer No. 1 will be the company’s first Alaska well.

—Alan Bailey