North Slope, Cook Inlet leases surrendered

Kristen Nelson

Petroleum News

Armstrong Energy, ConocoPhillips Alaska and Hilcorp Alaska each surrendered oil and gas leases to the state in late December and January.

The Alaska Division of Oil and Gas leasing report shows that Armstrong Energy surrendered three adjacent leases in state waters offshore the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska on the west side of the North Slope, all part of a block held by the company. A division map shows two of the three leases are the most southerly of a block immediately offshore NPR-A; the third lease, the most easterly, is separated from the shore by another lease held by Armstrong Energy.

ConocoPhillips surrendered a block of 13 North Slope leases immediately south of the Prudhoe Bay unit. The Dalton Highway runs through the western portion of this block.

Hilcorp surrendered three onshore Cook Inlet leases, all on the Kenai Peninsula, one south of Clam Gulch and east of the Ninilchik unit; one northeast of Ninilchik adjacent to the eastern edge of the Ninilchik unit; and one an isolated company lease in the middle of the peninsula northeast of Nikolaevsk.

Three Cook Inlet area held by Woodstone Resources leases were terminated for failure to pay rent. One is an isolated lease on the west side, west of Moquawkie and northeast of Nicolai Creek. Two are adjacent leases east of Nikolaevsk and north of Kachemak Bay on the southern Kenai Peninsula.

The division denied applications by Alliance Exploration to assign interests to Linger Energy Holdings. Data filed with the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development’s Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing show both entities are limited liability companies 100 percent owned by The Linger Trust.

- KRISTEN NELSON