North Slope exploration plans shaping up
Companies gearing up to drill oil exploration wells on Alaska’s North Slope during the upcoming winter drilling season are still filing permits, leaving the exact number of wells unknown. But it’s safe to say at least 13 exploration wells will be drilled, and possibly as many as 18, by six companies, including ConocoPhillips, FEX, Eni Petroleum, Anadarko Petroleum, Brooks Range Petroleum, and Savant Alaska.
Conoco has told permitting agencies it is looking at as many as three wells in two prospects in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska using the Kuukpik No. 5 drilling rig, and possibly another well with a different rig at its Makua prospect northeast of Alpine.
Talisman Energy subsidiary FEX said it would drill as many as five wells in NPR-A, using Nabors 14E rig and the new Akita-Doyon JV Arctic Wolf rig.
Eni Petroleum plans to drill up to four exploration wells in two prospects southeast of Kuparuk, using Nabors 27E rig.
Anadarko Petroleum plans to drill one exploration well at its eastern North Slope Jacob’s Ladder unit, using the Akita/Equtak Rig 63E.
Brooks Range Petroleum is planning two or three wells on its northern Alaska leases, using Nabors Rig 16E.
Newcomer Savant Alaska is moving forward with plans to do exploratory drilling on its Beaufort Sea Kupcake prospect near Liberty.
Trust Land Office to hold Cook Inlet lease sale
The Mental Health Trust Land Office has scheduled a competitive oil and gas lease sale for northern Cook Inlet Nov. 30.
The Trust Land Office manages about 1 million acres of Alaska Mental Health Trust land on behalf of the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority. It has more than 100,000 acres under oil and gas lease in the Cook Inlet and Nenana basin regions and more than 2,000 acres under coal lease in the Healy and Sutton areas.
Some 130,000 acres will be offered Nov. 30 in 25 tracts. The sale includes lease tracts that have been offered but not leased in previous Trust Land Office lease sales.
Sale information is available online at www.mhtrustland.org.
The bid opening will be at 9 a.m. Nov. 30 in the conference room of the Trust Land Office at 718 L St., Ste. 202, Anchorage.
Note: See full stories in the Oct. 22 issue of Petroleum News, available online on Friday at www.PetroleumNews.com
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