The Explorers 2010: Brooks Range Petroleum Corp.

Brooks Range Petroleum Corp. is the operating arm of the Kansas-based Alaska Venture Capital Group and operates a joint venture responsible for some of the most active drilling on the North Slope in recent years. AVCG arrived in Alaska in 1999, taking advantage of the Charter for Development of the North Slope, which set out terms for smaller companies to lease existing facilities. The company quickly bought up North Slope acreage, but found the economics of Arctic Alaska unsuitable for drilling. AVCG solved the problem by creating BRPC and partnering with three other independents, and today the joint venture holds 237,460 gross acres across several North Slope regions.

In 2008, the joint venture drilled two wells in Gwydyr Bay and one well in the Tofkat prospect east of Nuiqsut, finding oil at all three despite a mechanical problem that impeded testing of one well. In 2009, the joint venture laid out a development plan for Gwydyr Bay and formed the Beechey Point unit in the area, but a now-resolved lawsuit between two companies in the joint venture postponed drilling plans. This past winter, the joint venture drilled two wells. The results of the Sak River 1-A sidetrack led partner TG World Energy to relinquish some interest in the program. The remaining companies drilled the North Shore No. 3 well at Beechey Point, but did not release results. In 2011, the joint venture plans to drill the North Tarn No. 1 exploration well on leases farmed in from Eni Petroleum contiguous to the western edge of the Kuparuk River unit. Depending on partner approval, the companies could drill additional wells next year and/or shoot 3-D seismic at the Slugger prospect south of the Point Thomson unit.

Current exploration focus:

Northern Alaska: BRPC and its partners TG World Energy and Ramshorn Investments Inc. are developing the Beechey Point unit in the Gwydyr Bay area north of Prudhoe Bay; exploring at Tofkat, east of Nuiqsut; at North Tarn, contiguous to the western edge of the Kuparuk River unit; and at Slugger, a prospect south of the Point Thomson unit.

---

Did you find this article interesting?

Tweet it

Digg it

Print this story | Email it to an associate.

Click here to subscribe to Petroleum News for as low as $69 per year.