AVCG LLC, the Alaska Venture Capital Group, has applied to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil and Gas for approval of the Sakonowyak River unit in Gwydyr Bay at the mouth of the Sakonowyak River, south of the Northstar unit and north of the Prudhoe Bay unit.
The Division of Oil and Gas said the application was filed June 1 by AVCG LLC on behalf of BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., the designated unit operator. BP has 62 percent working interest and AVCG has 38 percent working interest.
The proposed Sakonowyak River unit includes five leases and covers some 11,520 acres. The applicants have requested a three-year term. If DNR approves the unit, exploration and development would occur in accordance with a unit plan of exploration and development approved by DNR.
The unit application includes an initial unit plan of exploration that proposes drilling a well in the unit area before May 1, 2003, and another well by May 1, 2004.
John Jay ("Bo") Darrah Jr. of AVCG told PNA in early May that AVCG "had some lease interests near Alpine that we traded with Phillips for their working interests in five leases in Gwydyr Bay … our interest varies from one-quarter interest in most leases — in one lease we own 75 percent."
Darrah and Bart Armfield of Arkansas City, Kansas, are the main principals in the company.
"We wanted to drill a well at Gwydyr Bay – that’s what started all this," Darrah said.
