Alaska's source for oil and gas news
Alaska's source for oil and gas news
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 1857
On April 8 Santos announced the successful completion of the Quokka-1 appraisal well, which has further delineated the high-quality Nanushuk reservoir in the Quokka Unit on Alaska's North Slope. Santos controls a 51% operating interest in the unit, with Repsol controlling the remaining 49%. The Quokka-1 well was spud on Jan. 1 and drilled to a total depth of 4,787 feet (1,459 meters). The well successfully encountered a high-quality reservoir with approximately 143 feet of net oil pay in the...
In an April 7 ASX release 88 Energy Limited said that it has acquired access to the Kad River 3D seismic dataset, recently released by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources' Division of Oil and Gas. The Kad River 3D survey covers the entirety of the company's newly secured Kad River East leases, comprising approximately 17,920 acres in seven leases (88 Energy holds 100% working interest) east of the Trans Alaska Pipeline System, or TAPS. The leases were acquired in the North Slope Areawide...
As of March 31, 100% of downed Rig 26 rig has been fully recovered, removed and transported from the site, the Unified Command said April 3. With that major milestone, response efforts following the Jan. 23 Western North Slope rig move incident have moved into Phase 3 of the incident response. Doyon Drilling Inc., or DDI, continues to lead response activities under a unified command structure. The disassembled rig and debris have been removed from the tundra to be thoroughly cleaned and...
Oil Search (Alaska) LLC, a subsidiary of Santos Limited and doing business as Santos in Alaska, received approval from Alaska’s Division of Oil and Gas on March 25 to amend its plan of exploration for its North Slope Quokka unit. Santos’s approved plan of exploration, or POE, originally included drilling two exploration or appraisal wells in the Quokka unit, or QKU. One well, the Quokka 1, was spud in early January and was intended to inform the scope and permitting requirements for the first stage of the QKU development. The amendment, fil...
On March 29, but dated March 30 in Australia, 88 Energy Limited issued an ASX release providing an update on its Augusta-1 exploration well, saying planning and permitting are underway on its recently consolidated South Prudhoe acreage position on Alaska’s North Slope (100% working interest, 16.7% royalty). Expected well spud date is first quarter CY2027, depending on funding. 88 Energy said, “Augusta is the highest-priority target within the company’s portfolio because it represents a material, relatively low-risk and near-term value creat...
Response efforts continue following the Jan. 23 Western North Slope rig move incident, the Unified Command said March 27, noting that approximately 95% of the overall rig has been recovered, removed, and transported from the site. Work remains in Phase 2 of the incident response, which involves removing the rig from the tundra. Doyon Drilling Inc., or DDI, continues to lead response activities under a unified command structure. The response team remains focused on inspection and disassembly of...
New Alaska player Epoch Oil & Gas LLC had the highest bid amount in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska lease sale bid opening on March 18 at $3,649,920 for tract L-223, and the highest bid amount per acre, $1,112.15, for tract L-205. The company was high bidder on a total of eight tracts. “Epoch is an affiliate of Aspect Energy, a private independent exploration company with a 35-year history of operating responsibly in remote and environmentally complex regions around the world, and now in Alaska,” Alex Cranberg, Aspect’s top execu...
North Slope Exploration, a Bill Armstrong company, was the most aggressive bidder in the recent National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska lease sale in terms of the number of bids, submitting bids on 118 tracts, 27% of the 430 bids received in the sale. What was Armstrong’s reaction to the lease sale results? “I feel great!!! We’re a little bit bummed that we didn’t win everything we were after. We bid on 1 million acres and won 600 thousand. We were out bid by Shell/Repsol on some good tracts, but we leased some awesome ideas. I am certain we will be...
According to a March 20 update from Unified Command, response efforts are continuing following the Jan. 23 Western North Slope rig move incident, as crews work on Phase 2 of the response, which focuses on removal of the rig from the tundra. Doyon Drilling Inc., or DDI, is still leading response activities under a unified command structure. Further inspection and disassembly of the rig’s substructure is ongoing. As of March 19, approximately 76% of the overall rig has been recovered, removed and transported from the site. Shearing efforts — cutt...
On March 12 the Alaska Department of Natural Resources announced the promotion of two experienced DNR employees into senior leadership roles. Current Director of the Division of Oil and Gas Derek Nottingham will be serving in an acting capacity as DNR deputy commissioner pending confirmation of the commissioner-designee, and current Deputy Director Haley Paine will be elevated to acting director of the Division of Oil and Gas pending confirmation of the commissioner-designee, both effective immediately. “Having worked with Derek and Haley close...
The National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska’s latest explorer, Australia-based IPB Petroleum Limited, recently changed its name to Forte Energy Limited and even more recently on March 12 completed the acquisition of a substantial oil lease position on Alaska’s North Slope, securing 143,368 acres across 13 leases within the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The acquisition was finalized through the purchase of Peritas LLC, the registered holder of the leases, following completion of the lease assignment process. Peritas, an Alaska registered com...
As of March 12, almost 60% of Doyon Rig 26 — approximately 58% — has been deconstructed and removed from the site, the Unified Command reports. As previously shared, the deconstructed rig will initially be decontaminated onsite and then transported to another location where it will ultimately be thoroughly cleaned and recycled. The rig move incident occurred on Jan. 23 while Doyon Drilling Inc., or DDI, was moving the rig on a gravel road near the community of Nuiqsut. Nicknamed the “Beast,” the 165-foot high, 9.5-million-pound high-te...
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources- Division of Oil and Gas published the latest North Slope Discoveries and Prospects Map on March 4. (See map in the online issue PDF) The giant map shows the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska on the west, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and coastal plain on the far right, all 2023 through 2025 exploration wellheads, proposed wells, all units, all major bodies of water and rivers, lease boundaries within discoveries and prospects. Bodies of water on the map include Mikkelsen Bay, Beaufort Sea,...
On March 3, Doss Daley, an engineer at Nabors Alaska Drilling Inc., received approval from the Department of Natural Resources- Division of Oil and Gas for the Trouble Creek Bridge Ice Road Bypass Land Use Permit that Nabors applied for on Feb. 6. The permit, LAS 35846, allows the company to conduct off road travel, ice construction and associated temporary activities on state of Alaska lands and waters between the Colville and Canning rivers on the North Slope. (The project is approximately 12 miles southeast of the Kuparuk Airstrip.) Nabors...
On Feb. 26, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources' Division of Oil and Gas sent an email to Smith Bay Company Alaska Inc. President David Pfeiffer reminding him of the status of ongoing litigation and an update on the timeline for the suspension of the plan of exploration, or POE, for the Smith Bay unit that was approved by the division on Sept. 8. The division approved the suspension for the Smith Bay unit, or SBU, through 60 days following a decision issued by the U.S. District Court of Alaska on the merits of the National Petroleum...
The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's Alaska Outer Continental Shelf Region said March 2 that it has released five 3D survey datasets from the Beaufort Sea, expanding public access to legacy geologic information supporting industry analysis, academic research and Alaska energy planning. (See map in the online issue PDF) BOEM said the release was in alignment with President Trump's Executive Order 14303, "Restoring Gold Standard Science." "Making these legacy seismic datasets publicly available reflects our continued commitment to...
As of Feb. 27, the Unified Command reports that roughly 47% of the overall rig has been deconstructed. The deconstructed rig, Doyon Rig 26, will ultimately be cleaned and transported to a recycling facility. The rig move incident occurred on Jan. 23 while Doyon Drilling Inc., or DDI, was moving the rig on a gravel road near the community of Nuiqsut. Nicknamed the "Beast," the 165-foot high, 9.5-million-pound high-tech extended reach drilling rig was thought to be the largest mobile land rig in North America. On Jan. 23, it...
On Feb. 20, the Department of the Interior said it is set to issue Public Land Order No. 7966 in Alaska's Dalton Utility Corridor, opening approximately 2.1 million acres of public land to location and entry under the public land and mining laws. This marks a historic step forward in fulfilling the State of Alaska's land entitlement. The order revokes two previous withdrawals north of the Yukon River -- Public Land Orders 5150 and 5180 -- expanding opportunities for resource development and enhancing the state's control over its own destiny....
On Feb. 17, Pantheon Resources reported it has formally commenced seismic reprocessing focused on the northwest section of the company's Kodiak project, updip from the Theta West-1 discovery well. The Theta-West-1 well was previously reported by Wood Mackenzie as being the fourth largest discovery well globally in 2022, and the largest onshore discovery well globally in 2022. Pantheon is performing preliminary activities for a potential Theta West-2 appraisal well, with timing and execution subject to funding, permitting, and operational...
On Feb. 19, 88 Energy Limited released the results of its internal prospective resource assessment across its consolidated South Prudhoe acreage on Alaska's North Slope, where it has a 100% working interest ownership. The South Prudhoe lease position covers approximately 52,269 acres within one of the most prolific hydrocarbon fairways on the North Slope, immediately south of the Prudhoe Bay and Kuparuk River units. This acreage incorporates newly secured leases together with the former Project Leonis area, "consolidating a highly strategic...
The latest Cook Inlet Oil and Gas Activity Map was released at the end of January and dated December 2025 by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources' Division of Oil and Gas. Find the map here: https://dog.dnr.alaska.gov/Document/Download/C1F2D6E517954E9C91D8CF86E2F6D71/Cook%20Inlet%20Activity%20Map.pdf The map includes wellhead locations for oil and gas exploration wells completed and separated by years completed -- 2023, 2024 and 2025. Highways, unit boundaries and a geothermal lease are noted on the map. Map highlights illustrate the...
The latest North Slope Oil and Gas Activity Map, dated January 2026, was released at the end of January by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources' Division of Oil and Gas. (See map in the online issue PDF) The map includes wellhead locations for oil and gas exploration wells completed and separated by years completed -- 2023, 2024 and 2025. Highways, current unit boundaries, the Trans Alaska Pipeline System, and the Alaska Seaward Boundary are noted on the map. Map highlights illustrate the following and much more: *ConocoPhillips Alaska...
According to the Unified Command, efforts following the Jan. 23 Western North Slope rig move incident near Nuiqsut have progressed, allowing the second phase of the response to begin. That work is focusing on further inspection of the structure, removal of any remaining fluids or debris, and transportation of the rig to another location. Doyon Drilling Inc. continues to lead response activities under the unified command structure. Crews continue to responsibly navigate periods of unsafe weather conditions. Spill response crews have continued...
In 2025, ConocoPhillips Alaska incurred an estimated $1.3 billion in taxes and royalties, including $1 billion to the State of Alaska and nearly $300 million to the federal government. ConocoPhillips Alaska reported a net income of $730 million for the year. ConocoPhillips Alaska delivered another strong year in 2025 as we continued to advance our Alaska portfolio, Erec Isaacson, president of ConocoPhillips Alaska, was quoted as saying in the Feb. 18 release. Progress continues on the Willow project, which will achieve nearly 50% completion...
On Feb. 12 the Alaska Department of Natural Resources' Division of Oil and Gas notified ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc., or CPAI, by certified mail that the company's Nov. 26 application for the fifth amendment to request for lease extension and deferral of unit contraction of the Colville River unit, or CRU, has been approved. The approval letter was addressed to Jason Parker at CPAI and signed by Division of Oil and Gas Director Derek Nottingham. The application describes the background of the original agreement approving the delay of contraction...
