Alaska's source for oil and gas news
Alaska's source for oil and gas news
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Hilcorp Alaska has drilled two grassroots wells at the old Sterling pad on the Kenai Peninsula, with gas from one of the wells initially showing up on the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission production report for January. The Sterling pad is east/south-east of Kenai. AOGCC data show the Sterling Unit 32-16 produced for three days in January, a total of 723 thousand cubic feet from the Sterling undefined gas pool. The 32-16 well, one of two permitted in October, was spud in November and completed in mid-January, with AOGCC well data...
Alaska North Slope production averaged 472,413 barrels per day in January, down 1%, 4,751 bpd, from a December average of 477,164 bpd and down 3.4% from a January 2025 average of 489,022 bpd. Crude oil accounted for 89.06% of the total, 420,727 bpd, down 4,343 bpd, 1.02%, from a December average of 425,070 bpd and down 2.87% from a January 2025 average of 433,158 bpd. Natural gas liquids made up 10.94% of the total, an average of 51,686 bpd, down 408 bpd, 0.78%, from a December average of 52,093 bpd and down 7.48% from a January 2025 average...
Cook Inlet natural gas production for January averaged 209,542 thousand cubic feet per day, up 325 mcf per day, 0.15%, from a December average of 209,218 mcf per day and up 11.92% from a January 2025 average of 187,226 mcf per day. Volumes are calculated from Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission data, reported on a month-delay basis. For natural gas AOGCC reports measurements in thousands of cubic feet, mcf. The six largest producing fields accounted for 82.07% of inlet production in January, an average of 171,975 mcf per day, with 17 sma...
Baker Hughes' U.S. rotary drilling rig count was 550 on Feb. 27, down by one from the previous week and down 43 from 593 a year ago. The domestic rig count has ranged from the 530s through the 550s since the beginning of June. For 2025, the count peaked Feb. 28 (and again March 21) at 593, hitting its low point Aug. 29 at 526. For 2024, the count peaked March 1 (and again March 15) at 629, hitting its low point June 28 at 581. In 2023 the count peaked early in the year at 775 on Jan. 13, bottoming out Nov. 10 at 616. A drop of 17 to 731 on May...
Senate Resources changes thrust of governor's tax bill; amends it to gross oil tax Gov. Mike Dunleavy introduced a bill which featured a statewide sales tax. In Senate Resources, the sales tax went away and was replaced with a redo of the state's oil tax system. As reported out of Senate Resources Feb. 18, the Senate version, Senate Bill 227, returns Alaska's oil tax system to a gross tax at 17.5%, which, along with the state's 12.5% royalty, adds to a 30% tax. The bill now moves to Senate Finance. No hearing had been scheduled when this issue...
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources' Division of Oil and Gas has approved an application from Hilcorp Alaska for formation of the Whiskey Gulch participating area within the Seaview unit on the southern Kenai Peninsula. Division Director Derek Nottingham approved the PA formation Feb. 25. Hilcorp is 100% working interest owner of the 160-acre PA, which has an effective date of Nov. 1, 2025. Whiskey Gulch is currently producing from a single gas well, Whiskey Gulch 1, drilled in 2021 as a directional exploration well targeting oil. The we...
Baker Hughes' U.S. rotary drilling rig count was 551 on Feb. 20, unchanged from the previous week and down 41 from 592 a year ago. The domestic rig count has ranged from the 530s through the 550s since the beginning of June. For 2025, the count peaked Feb. 28 (and again March 21) at 593, hitting its low point Aug. 29 at 526. For 2024, the count peaked March 1 (and again March 15) at 629, hitting its low point June 28 at 581. In 2023 the count peaked early in the year at 775 on Jan. 13, bottoming out Nov. 10 at 616. A drop of 17 to 731 on May...
Hilcorp Alaska received final approval from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Feb. 20 governing taking of marine mammals incidental to specific activities in support of oil and gas activities in Cook Inlet. The final rule and letter of authorization are effective Feb. 20, 2026, through Feb. 19, 2031. NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service can allow incidental, but not intentional, taking of small numbers of marine mammals if it finds that the taking will have negligible impact on species or stocks. NMFS said no serious...
Hilcorp Alaska received final approval from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Feb. 20 governing taking of marine mammals incidental to specific activities in support of oil and gas activities in Cook Inlet. The final rule and letter of authorization are effective Feb. 20, 2026, through Feb. 19, 2031. NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service can allow incidental, but not intentional, taking of small numbers of marine mammals if it finds that the taking will have negligible impact on species or stocks. NMFS said no serious...
House Bill 271, indefinitely extending the 3% royalty rate approved by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources in 2025 for the Kitchen Lights unit in Cook Inlet, had its first hearing in the House Resources Committee Feb. 4. Rep. Zack Fields, D-Anchorage, the bill sponsor and a member of the committee, introduced the bill, noting that when the DNR commissioner approved the application by unit operator and working interest owner HEX/Furie in February 2025 for reduction of the state's royalty, DNR had looked at the economics of the Kitchen...
Baker Hughes' U.S. rotary drilling rig count was 551 on Feb. 13, unchanged from the previous week and down 37 from 588 a year ago. The domestic rig count has ranged from the 530s through the 550s since the beginning of June. For 2025, the count peaked Feb. 28 (and again March 21) at 593, hitting its low point Aug. 29 at 526. For 2024, the count peaked March 1 (and again March 15) at 629, hitting its low point June 28 at 581. In 2023 the count peaked early in the year at 775 on Jan. 13, bottoming out Nov. 10 at 616. A drop of 17 to 731 on May...
Hilcorp has drilled 192 wells in Cook Inlet since it came to the region in 2011 and plans 27 wells this year -- all gas wells -- the most since it drilled 28 wells in 2014. This information was part of a briefing Luke Saugier, Hilcorp Alaska senior vice president, gave the Alaska Legislature's House Resources Committee Jan. 28 as part of a group presentation which included ConocoPhillips and Santos. (Hilcorp's comments on its North Slope work were included in a story in the Feb. 8 issue of Petroleum News.) Cook Inlet was where Hilcorp came to...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy has named former state Rep. Tom McKay of Anchorage was named Jan. 22 to fill the public member seat on the three-member Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. The position requires approval by the Legislature. McKay fills a vacancy left by Brett Huber Sr. who held the public member seat from 2023-24. The term of the seat expires March 1, 2027. Jessie Chmielowski has held the petroleum engineering seat on the commission since 2019 and Greg Wilson has held the geologist seat since 2022. McKay served in the Legislature...
Baker Hughes' U.S. rotary drilling rig count was 551 on Feb. 6, up by five from the previous week and down 35 from 586 a year ago. The domestic rig count has ranged from the 530s through the 550s since the beginning of June. For 2025, the count peaked Feb. 28 (and again March 21) at 593, hitting its low point Aug. 29 at 526. For 2024, the count peaked March 1 (and again March 15) at 629, hitting its low point June 28 at 581. In 2023 the count peaked early in the year at 775 on Jan. 13, bottoming out Nov. 10 at 616. A drop of 17 to 731 on May...
U.S. natural gas prices were up sharply in January, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Feb. 10 in its February Short-Term Energy Outlook. Cold weather in January resulted in an average Henry Hub price of $7.72 per million British thermal units from increased demand while also resulting in reduced production, leading to record storage withdrawals. "Winter Storm Fern caused significant short-term pressure on natural gas markets, but we expect higher prices in the near term will increase drilling, resulting in higher production later...
Chugach Electric Association is pursuing hydroelectric projects as part of efforts to reduce reliance on natural gas and achieve decarbonization goals set by its board of directors. Chugach said in a Feb. 10 release that it is moving forward in investigation of potential Southcentral hydroelectric sites. Preliminary permit applications with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and water right applications with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources were filed Feb. 6 for feasibility studies of four projects: *Canyon Creek, run of river,...
Drilling, development and more production were the highlights as Alaska's major oil and gas producers and the new entrant which will soon join them with production on the North Slope provided the Alaska Legislature's House Resources Committee with upbeat updates at a Jan. 28 hearing. ConocoPhillips Alaska and Hilcorp are the state's major oil and gas producers, operating between them the majority of producing fields and production across the North Slope. Santos will be on its way to being the third-largest producer on the Slope when it brings...
The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said a Cook Inlet outer continental shelf oil and gas lease sale, Big Beautiful Cook Inlet (BBC1), will be held March 4. The final notice of sale, released Jan. 30, includes information on lease terms: a 10-year primary term, a minimum bonus bid of $25 per hectare and a 12.5% royalty rate. The sale was authorized under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and is the first of a series, one each year from 2026-28 and from 2030-32, The lease area covers 1.05 million acres in federal waters of Cook Inlet north o...
Judge Sharon Gleason of the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska has denied a motion for a preliminary injunction by plaintiffs suing U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum over the Bureau of Land Management's approval of a request by ConocoPhillips for approval of winter exploration work in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The 2026 winter exploration program covers four exploration wells and a seismic program within NPR-A including work within the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area. Plaintiffs -- Sovereign Inupiat for...
Inlet Energy, operator of leaseholder Savant Alaska's North Slope Badami unit, has been disputing Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission findings that its release of natural gas from October 2024 through March 2025 constituted waste. In a Jan. 23 final order the commission found CIE had wasted natural gas and imposed a civil fine. CIE was unable to recover produced gas because the vapor recovery unit at Badami was non-functioning from October 2024 to March 2025. After the commission issued a notice of proposed enforcement action on May 27,...
Baker Hughes' U.S. rotary drilling rig count was 546 on Jan. 30, up by two from the previous week and down 36 from 582 a year ago. The domestic rig count has ranged from the 530s through the 550s since the beginning of June. For 2025, the count peaked Feb. 28 (and again March 21) at 593, hitting its low point Aug. 29 at 526. For 2024, the count peaked March 1 (and again March 15) at 629, hitting its low point June 28 at 581. In 2023 the count peaked early in the year at 775 on Jan. 13, bottoming out Nov. 10 at 616. A drop of 17 to 731 on May...
Hilcorp Alaska is planning two grassroots wells and associated infrastructure at the existing Ninilchik unit Paxton Pad. Paxton is one of the most southerly of the 10 pads at Ninilchik, which follows the coast of the Kenai Peninsula from south of Kasilof to north of Ninilchik. The Alaska Department of Natural Resources' Division of Oil and Gas said in a Jan. 27 unit plan of operations amendment decision that work at the Paxton Pad would include drilling the Paxton 14 and Paxton 15 wells and installing associated infrastructure required to tie...
Alaska North Slope production averaged 477,164 barrels per day in December, up 1.17%, 5,512 bpd, from a November average of 471,651 bpd, but down 1.1% from a December 2024 average of 482,485 bpd. Crude volumes averaged 425,070 bpd, 89.08% of the total for December, up 4,115 bpd, 0.98%, from a November average of 420,955 bpd, but down 0.37% from a December 2024 average of 426,650 bpd. North Slope natural gas liquids averaged 52,093 bpd in December, 10.92% of the total, up 1,397 bpd, 2.76%, from a November average of 50,696 bpd but down 6.7%...
Natural gas production from Cook Inlet averaged 209,218 thousand cubic feet per day in December, down 1,512 mcf, 0.72%, from a November average of 210,730 mcf per day, but up 12.22% from a December 2024 average of 186,431 mcf per day. Volumes are calculated from Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission data, reported on a month-delay basis. For natural gas AOGCC reports measurements in thousands of cubic feet, mcf. Six fields accounted for 83.83% of December production: five operated by Hilcorp Alaska and one operated by Furie....
Hilcorp Alaska has permitted a development gas well, WFK-04, at the West Fork gas field and applied to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission for changes in the conservation order governing the field. If successful, this well would bring an old gas field back online. Natural gas was discovered at the West Fork field on the Kenai Peninsula by Halbouty Alaska Oil Co. in 1960 at the West Fork No. 1-B well. Three dry hole offset wells followed -- the SOCAL West Fork 233-16 and the Union Sterling Unit 48-28, both drilled in 1962, and the...
