Although Great Bear Petroleum does not yet have a drilling rig for its North Slope shale exploration and evaluation program, the director of Alaska’s Division of Oil and Gas told state lawmakers Jan. 20 that the company has secured the primary government authorizations and permits necessary for its year-round, multi-well, proof of concept drilling and testing, and is “now targeting site preparation work for March and April,” followed by drilling.
Great Bear, which has about 500,000 acres under lease in the central North Slope south of the Prudhoe Bay and Kuparuk River units, will be the first company to test the oil production capacity of the area’s three world-class source rocks, which are mostly shale. The six drill sites it has permitted are along the Dalton Highway, between the highway and the trans-Alaska oil pipeline south of Pump Station 1.
The company had originally talked about fall 2011 startup; then winter 2012, but in testimony to the House Resources Committee, division Director Bill Barron said Great Bear’s most recent plans had been “pushed back, primarily due” to the company’s search for a rig.
“Great Bear right now is progressing their program fairly well. They have secured all of the primary governmental permits, that includes state, local, federal … so they’re in good stead in that regards,” Barron told lawmakers.
“They are in the process of identifying and securing a drilling rig. Once they identify and secure that rig, they will then progress the (rig-specific) permits through AOGCC and Alyeska Pipeline for a waiver of easement into, over the pipeline area. … I do understand that they’ve submitted most of the material they need to AOGCC and have been in dialogue with Alyeska Pipeline … they just need to get more technical specificity around the equipment that’s going to be coming into that area,” he said.
“A bit of an update of most importance is that Great Bear is now targeting site preparation for March and April; and beginning their drilling activities after that.”
Rigs available in May
Great Bear was not the only company that failed to secure one of the drilling rigs in Alaska appropriate for winter exploration on the North Slope. But some of those rigs will be available in May after finishing exploration wells for Repsol, Brooks Range Petroleum, Savant and Pioneer Natural Resources.
Great Bear president, Ed Duncan, told Petroleum News Nov. 21 that he was looking at all options for a rig, including checking outside Alaska for a “hybrid” unit.
According to a Nov. 1 presentation by Duncan to House Resources, two proof of concept programs will be simultaneously conducted on its acreage — the other led by its limited farm-in partner, service company Halliburton.
As lease operator Great Bear’s permits and authorizations are for both programs. (Go online to http://bit.ly/rtkXIZ for slides used by Duncan in his November presentation. Slide 4 shows the wells each company will drill and test, although Duncan has said he only expects a total of four verticals with horizontal sections will be needed.)
Halliburton has not yet said which rig it will use, if indeed two rigs will be needed. The service company owns several hybrid rigs outside Alaska.
—Kay Cashman & Kristen Nelson
