BRPC to drill 3-4 wells on three prospects, North Shore development possible

In testimony to the Alaska Legislature on Oct. 22, Alaska Venture Capital Group Managing Director Ken Thompson said AVCG and its joint venture partners in Brooks Range Petroleum Corporation Group are hoping to drill as many as four wells this winter on three different North Slope prospects. The BRPC Group, Thompson said, will first go back in to complete and test its North Shore exploration well, which was drilled in the winter of 2006-07, and was one of the first two exploration wells operated by the partners on Alaska’s North Slope.

Both 2006-07 wells were drilled in the Gwydyr Bay area northwest of Prudhoe Bay. The Sak River No. 1 was a dry hole, but earlier this year the BRPC Group said the other well, North Shore No. 1, looked like an oil strike. “We plan to complete and test this well this winter,” Thompson said.

The partners also ran a 130-square mile 3-D seismic survey over both their acreage and surrounding acreage, in their Gwydyr Bay prospect area last winter, investing more than $44 million on land, seismic and drilling, he said.

“This winter our joint venture group will be among the most active of explorers as we plan to shoot over 200 square miles of new seismic data on the extreme western and eastern sides of the Central North Slope and to drill up to four exploration wells.”

The BRPC Group, which has Nabors 27 Rig under contract, is planning to drill one or two wells near North Shore No. 1, Thompson said, in hopes it “can discover a sufficient volume of oil to warrant a commercial development at Gwydyr Bay.”

The partners are also planning to drill a prospect south of the Alpine field, which is part of ConocoPhillips’ Colville River unit.

“We will drill our Tofkat No. 1 well … and also drill a fourth exploration well on a prospect to be named,” spending more than $40 million on seismic and drilling in the winter of 2007-08, Thompson said.

If the “North Shore oil completion test is as suspected and one of the wells strikes oil close by, we may proceed with North Shore development with more substantial capital investment in the winter exploration season of 2008-09.”

On the same day Thompson was testifying, TG World Energy Corp. sent out a press release with more detailed information about the BRPC Group’s plans. (The BRPC Group consists of AVCG LLC, its operating subsidiary Brooks Range Petroleum Corp. and its co-ventures TG World Energy, Ramshorn Investments Inc. and Bow Valley Alaska Corp.)

TG World said the North Shore No. 1 well, in which it has a 35 percent working interest, reached a final total vertical depth of 10,319 feet (13,309 feet measured depth) in the Ivishak formation and was cased as a potential oil producer. The well’s bottomhole is approximately 1,100 feet west of the 1974 Mobil Gwydyr Bay South No. 1 well, which TG World said was reported to have flowed at an average of 2,263 barrels per day on production test from the Ivishak formation.

In the Titania prospect area, the Tofkat No. 1 exploration well’s reservoir target will be the Kuparuk sandstones, TG World said, describing the prospect as “seismic-defined” and noting that the Nanuq field in the Colville unit 5 kilometers northwest from Tofkat, produces from the Kuparuk.

If Tofkat No. 1 is a discovery, the partners “may choose to drill a sidetrack well this winter season to help delineate the reservoir extent. Under the terms of the joint venture arrangements, TG World will, by paying 35.7 percent of the well costs, earn a 25 percent working interest in the complete Titania prospect area,” TG World said.

Three-dimensional seismic data acquired by the partners in the winter of 2006-07 over the Gwydyr Bay prospect area “has identified two small satellite prospects to North Shore No. 1 that can be reached from the North Shore No. 1 drilling pad,” TG World said. “The first satellite prospect is expected to be drilled after Tofkat No. 1 well operations are completed,” the company said, noting that it has a “35 percent working interest in the satellite prospects.”

The first North Shore satellite, if successful, “could be a catalyst for North Shore field development,” TG World said.

The partners expect to select another well to drill during the 2007-08 season “from prospects in the Gwydyr Bay area covered by proprietary 3-D seismic data,” TG World said. “Final prospect selection is awaiting delivery and interpretation of the pre-stack depth-migrated seismic volume,” the company said, noting it has a 35 percent working interest “in the relevant leases.”

TG World also said, “a CGG-Veritas seismic crew has been secured for a one-month slot. The joint venture plans to acquire up to 200 square miles of 3D data over portions of its lease holdings in the Slugger and Titania/Big Island prospect areas. Prospects developed from these surveys would be candidates for drilling” in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 winter seasons. TG World is paying 25 percent of the costs of the seismic program.

—Kay Cashman