After a lengthy and complicated appeals process, the state is reversing an earlier decision and allowing ASRC Exploration LLC to expand the Placer unit on the North Slope.
The ruling requires the exploration arm of Arctic Slope Regional Corp. to file a new plan of exploration by the end of the year, post a $2.5 million performance bond by mid-January 2015 and meet a series of work commitments culminating in an exploration well by May 2016. The Placer unit would keep its original expiration date of Sept. 8, 2016.
The Nov. 13 decision helps resolve a three-year dispute between the company and the Alaska Department of Natural Resources over the best way to explore the Placer unit.
- ERIC LIDJI
See story in Nov. 23 issue of Petroleum News, available online Friday, Nov. 21 at www.PetroleumNews.com
