Umiat appraisal wells in the works 03/11/2007
New independent formed by Renaissance, Rutter and Wilbanks, Arctic Falcon to appraise Alaska oil field, will drill in 2007-08
Renaissance Alaska, Rutter and Wilbanks and Arctic Falcon have formed a limited liability company to evaluate and, if all goes well, develop the Umiat oil field on the northern edge of the Brooks R...

Oil Patch Insider 03/11/2007
Nabors builds exploration rig for Chevron; Brooks Range group acquires Bachner acreage; Hints of success from Talisman/FEX's NPR-A drilling
Nabors Alaska Drilling is building a lightweight, high-tech AC drilling rig at the request of Chevron, which plans a multi-year drilling program on the North Slope starting next winter. Nabors Rig 10...

Conoco cancels Chukchi, Beaufort seismic 03/04/2007
Company pulls MMS permit applications for 2007 open water program, will likely buy 3-D seismic data from Shell
ConocoPhillips Alaska has abandoned plans to shoot three-dimensional seismic offshore northern Alaska, the company told federal officials in mid-February when it asked them to discontinue work on seis...

Oil Patch Insider 02/18/2007
TAPS starts first new electric pumps; Agrium writes off Nikiski; Palin slams Exxon; Petro-Canada not going to operate in NPR-A
The startup of the new electric pump system at pump station 9 of the trans-Alaska pipeline has started to bring to fruition the years of work involved in the strategic reconfiguration of the pipeline...

Bush: ANWR still in the picture 02/11/2007
Despite Democratic-led Congress, White House tenders controversial petroleum development provision in fiscal 2008 budget proposal
President Bush inserted oil drilling on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge into the $2.9 trillion budget proposal for fiscal 2008 that he unveiled Feb. 5. But the move likely wi...

FEX pushes forward in NPR-A 01/28/2007
But warns that oil and gas industry needs improved Alaska business environment; PPT shaves 25% off NPV of exploration projects
On Jan. 19 at the Alaska Support Industry Alliance's annual Meet Alaska conference Timothy England, senior manager of exploration for Talisman Energy, painted a good news/bad news picture of his compa...

KUPARUK ANNIVERSARY: Environmental studies from the get-go 01/21/2007
Company has been studying wildlife at Kuparuk since development days; swans targeted, caribou also a focus
Caryn Rea, senior staff biologist for ConocoPhillips Alaska, says there's always been a biologist with the company - starting in ARCO days - on the North Slope. In the 1970s it was Angus Gavin, who "d...

MEET ALASKA 2007: Alaska roll call lookin' good 01/21/2007
Today 31 oil and gas companies have significant investments in Alaska; in 1996 that number was down to 7
Ten years ago Petroleum News published a "roll call" of oil and gas companies doing business in Alaska. In the five preceding years the number had dropped by more than one-half, from 19 active compani...

Petro-Canada, FEX link up to explore NPR-A 01/07/2007
Canadian companies form exploration partnership on jointly held leases in National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska
It looks like Alaska will have one less operator than expected next winter. Two Calgary-based companies, Petro-Canada and Talisman Energy's Alaska subsidiary FEX, have teamed up to explore their joint...

NSSI: Coordinating North Slope science 12/31/2006
New Alaska North Slope project database nearing completion; GIS coordination depends on funding from Congress
It's been little more than a year since the U.S. Energy Policy Act formalized the existence of the North Slope Science Initiative, an inter-agency effort to provide a consistent approach to high-calib...

Oilpatch Insider 12/24/2006
Coastal tundra travel open; Chavez comes to Alberta's rescue; Hite joins Benchmark; Interior picks Nageak; Katz stays
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources opened the eastern and western coastal areas of state land on Alaska's North Slope for winter tundra travel effective 8 a.m. Dec. 19. The department said the...

Oil Patch Insider 12/17/2006
NW NPR-A open for travel, other areas still closed; Pearce sworn in
The Bureau of Land Management said Dec. 13 that it is allowing tundra travel in the northwest planning area of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, provided that operators ensure that they meet the...

PETROLEUM DIRECTORY: Multi-faceted company, LCMF, stands ready to expand services with gas line growth 12/10/2006
LCMF provides fully integrated professional disciplines in architecture, civil engineering, structural engineering, surveying and project management
Q. Where is LCMF located? A. We have offices in Anchorage, Alpine, Barrow, and Fairbanks. Q. When was the company founded, who founded it, and what was its original name? A. LCMF was founded in 198...

ARC invests in Alaska 12/10/2006
Independent Renaissance lands initial exploration funding from Calgary firm
Independent oil and gas company Renaissance Alaska LLC has secured initial funding for the exploration and development of leases in Alaska. Capital from ARC Energy Fund 5, a private equity fund manage...

Nuiqsut natural gas almost ready to go 12/03/2006
North Slope Borough working with agencies; ready to convert village electricity to gas; residential conversion will follow
It's taken almost 10 years, but the village of Nuiqsut is on the verge of getting natural gas. Facilities are in place and the North Slope Borough is now working out the last of the details with the...

Nanuq producing crude 12/03/2006
Conoco, Anadarko's second Alpine satellite comes online in North Slope Colville unit
Production began Nov. 27 from Nanuq, the second satellite to come online at the ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Alpine field in the Colville River unit. ConocoPhillips holds 78 percent of the working i...

Borough seeks consensus on NPR-A 11/26/2006
Oil and gas plan involves a collaborative approach to addressing the impacts on North Slope communities of industrial development
The villagers of Nuiqsut on the Beaufort Sea coast just east of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska look out on the nearby industrial facilities of the Alpine oil field where once there was only arc...

BLM doing supplemental EIS for NE NPR-A 11/26/2006
The Bureau of Land Management said Nov. 17 that it will develop a supplemental environmental impact statement for the northeast portion of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska to address cumulative i...

ConocoPhillips' 2007 exploration program in Alaska to top '06 effort 11/26/2006
Company President Jim Bowles tells RDC conference Conoco drilled smaller plays closer to infrastructure last year; in 2007 company going back into NPR-A, as far west as Barrow
ConocoPhillips Alaska focused its 2006 exploration close to existing infrastructure at Kuparuk and Alpine, the company's president, Jim Bowles, told the Resource Development Council's annual conferenc...

State should move ahead with gas line 11/19/2006
Other suggestions to state: bear costs in mind, ensure access to land; to Palin - broaden base of advisors, fix this contract
What oil and gas issues are of most interest to Alaska's resource community? Mostly how to get more exploration - and a gas pipeline - according to questions the audience asked as the Resource Develo...

THE EXPLORERS 2006 - Small firms, investors seek reg changes 11/12/2006
Long-timers Paul Craig, Dave Lappi turning to other opportunities, such as Interior wind power and Uganda
The smallest explorers in Alaska's oil patch spent a quiet year considering their options and looking for opportunities in an investment regime they say needs an overhaul. Throughout the history of o...

THE EXPLORERS 2006 - Petro-Canada advances in Alaska 11/12/2006
Has 1.6M net acres of leased, option lands in Alaska; looking at drilling 2-3 exploration wells in 2007-08
In late 2004 Petro-Canada's chief executive officer, Ron Brenneman, said the company planned to develop "long-term" natural gas supply opportunities on Alaska's North Slope in expectations that a gas...

THE EXPLORERS 2006 - Talisman's FEX shooting for five wells 11/12/2006
Company continues to build NPR-A onshore, offshore acreage position; execs looking for 'big prize' in Alaska
Six companies will drill at least 13 oil exploration wells across northern Alaska in the winter drilling season of 2006-07 and FEX L.P. is one of them. FEX, which first entered Alaska in 2003 as Fort...

THE EXPLORERS 2006 - Conoco's exploration plans shaping up 11/12/2006
ConocoPhillips Alaska is gearing up to drill oil exploration wells on Alaska's North Slope during the upcoming 2006-07 winter drilling season, but because the company is not yet publicly saying how ma...

THE EXPLORERS 2006 - State gets $3.2 million from sales 11/12/2006
Nine bidders at Beaufort Sea, North Slope lease sales; AVCG dominates Beaufort bidding
The state's areawide Beaufort Sea and North Slope oil and gas lease sales brought in $3.2 million from eight bidders or bidding groups when bids were read Oct. 25 in Anchorage. Sales North Slope 2006...