Papers filed recently in the bankruptcy case of Pacific Energy Resources Ltd. are suggestive.

Pacific Energy said in an Oct. 7 filing it intends to sell office furniture in its suite at 310 K Street in downtown Anchorage to Forest Oil for $8,000. A property list shows an array of desks, chairs, tables, bookshelves, file cabinets and “fixed cabinets.”

Forest Oil occupied the same suite prior to selling all its Alaska assets to Pacific Energy in a $464 million deal announced in May 2007.

Pacific Energy, based in Long Beach, Calif., didn’t fare well in its foray into Alaska, in September abandoning most of its oil and gas assets on the west side of Cook Inlet after frenzied efforts to sell the properties failed. Pacific Energy said it was forced to abandon the properties because of mounting losses.

Now the state is caretaking some assets that Pacific Energy, and previously Forest Oil, used to operate. These include the West McArthur River oil field, the Osprey offshore platform over the Redoubt Shoal field, and the West Foreland gas field.

Alaska Department of Natural Resources officials recently sent out a solicitation for a company to manage the abandoned properties. Among the people to whom the state sent the solicitation was Gary Carlson, formerly Forest Oil’s top executive in Alaska.

Petroleum News today sought comment from Forest Oil about the pending furniture purchase, but wasn’t immediately successful.

See story in Oct. 18 issue, available online on Friday, Oct. 16 at noon Alaska time at www.PetroleumNews.com