Brooks Range Petroleum Corp., the operating company for Alaska Venture Capital Group, has applied for operations approval for an exploration program at North Tarn, west of the Kuparuk River unit, on a lease owned by Eni US Operating Co.
The farm-in, which requires drilling the North Tarn No. 1 well, will earn a 24 percent interest in the lease for AVCG, 20 percent for TG World, 20 percent for Ramshorn and 16 percent for Bow Valley, BRPC told the state. Those interests total 80 percent so Eni will retain a 20 percent interest in the lease.
Armstrong Alaska paid $181.17 per acre, a total of $463,795.20 for the 2,560-acre tract, ADL 390680, in the state’s 2004 North Slope areawide oil and gas lease sale. Eni acquired the lease from Armstrong in the summer of 2005 when it bought Armstrong Alaska’s assets on the North Slope. The lease, west of the main Kuparuk River unit and north of the existing Kuparuk Tarn development, has a fixed royalty rate of 16.67 percent and expires in 2012.
BRPC said it expects to use Nabors Rig 16E during the 2010 exploration season. It told the state that North Tarn exploration operations are expected to begin in February. The program includes a 4-mile ice road from existing Kuparuk River unit gravel roads to the North Tarn ice pad location.
See story in Jan. 24 issue, available online at noon, Friday, Jan. 22 at www.PetroleumNews.com.
