Alaska Pacific Energy still interested

Not related to Pacific Energy which filed for bankruptcy, sold Alaska assets; has had Alaska on its radar since its 2005 founding

Kay Cashman

Petroleum News

The headline of the March 29 press release about the California-based company read, “Alaska Pacific Energy Corp. Signs Oil Sands Recovery License.” Huh? Say what? Has Pacific Energy moved east to dabble in Canada’s oil sands?

That was this writer’s reaction, concluding that Alaska Pacific was somehow affiliated with another California firm, Pacific Energy, which filed for bankruptcy protection in 2009 and sold its Alaska assets after what seemed like a valiant but problematic effort to produce oil and gas in the Cook Inlet basin.

As it turns out, there is no connection between the two companies and although Alaska Pacific has no leases in Alaska, when the company was incorporated in 2005 it was with the intention of exploring for minerals and/or oil and natural gas in, among other places, Alaska.

Alaska Pacific President James R. King told Petroleum News March 30 that the company initially “purchased claims in the province of Quebec that have interesting molybdenum showings,” raising US$125,000 from “seed stock shareholders.”

King said he has “been a successful entrepreneur for many years, having drilled for oil and gas in Utah and Montana.”

He also noted that he has “access to pools of development capital.” When asked if the right opportunity presented itself in Alaska, was his company still interested in the state, King said yes: “We will look at most any decent looking prospect, be they mineral or oil and gas. With the new relationship we have with Entec, we as a company now have a very experienced group of oil and gas experts on our team and I will coordinate with them. I also have access to very good mineral geologists and engineers.”

Calgary-based Entec, at www.entecinc.com, has been in business for 25 years. According to the March 29 press release, its accomplishments include: leading the way in developing unique wellbore configurations for numerous specialty applications; providing horizontal drilling services since its inception; having been responsible for, or assisted with, several major horizontal drilling achievements; and in May 2009, providing “the primary engineering and construction management for a TransCanada pipeline project that saw a Canadian record 42-inch pipeline successfully drilled under the Peace River in Alberta.”

To read more about the oil sands technology deal between Alaska Pacific and Entec, go to http://bit.ly/9CpYL4.

According to King, other officers in Alaska Pacific include Treasurer Anastasios Koutsoumbos and directors George Skrivanos and Timothea Welsh.