State might add exploration license area to Cook Inlet sale
Alaska's Division of Oil and Gas has a request out for substantial new information for its 2020 Cook Inlet and Alaska Peninsula areawide oil and gas lease sales.
The Alaska Peninsula rarely draws interest and typically there would be limited interest in Cook Inlet because so much of the prospective acreage in that area has already been leased.
But the division said it is considering augmenting the Cook Inlet sale area by including the Southwest Cook Inlet exploration license area, opening acreage on the southwest side of the inlet for leasing.
The division received a proposal for a Southwest Cook Inlet exploration license in April 2013; when it asked for comments and competing proposals it received a competing proposal. The division prepared a written finding and held a sealed bid opening in August 2014.
Only one company, Glacier Oil & Gas-owned Cook Inlet Energy, submitted a final bid, committing to spend $1.5 million over four years for the license on 168,581 acres of state land on and offshore the Iniskin Peninsula. The minimum work commitment was $1 million. There was also a one-time fee of $1 an acre.
- Kristen Nelson
Estimate of ANS undiscovered, recoverable hydrates drops
An estimated 53.8 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered, technically recoverable natural gas is trapped within methane gas hydrate formations in Alaska's North Slope, the U.S. Geological Survey says in a new geology-based assessment released Sept. 10.
The report updates a 2018 USGS assessment that estimated about 85 tcf of undiscovered, technically recoverable gas in the slope's hydrates, which was a decrease from the 2008 assessment.
The area assessed extends from the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska on the west through the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on the east and from the Brooks Range northward to the state-federal offshore boundary, 3 miles north of the coastline. The area covers 41,089 square miles and encompasses federal, state, and Native lands
Access to 3D seismic mapping, along with a greater understanding of gas hydrate reservoir properties, yielded estimates that were more precise, the federal agency reported.
The assessment methodology assumes that the resource can be produced by existing conventional technology. To date, USGS says, there is no known commercial production of natural gas from hydrates.
- Kay Cashman
Next step for ANS Guitar unit is Superior Court
One of the two Guitar unit defaults issued by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources' Division of Oil and Gas was cured by an Aug. 19 decision of DNR Commissioner Corri Feige.
However, the second default, issued Feb. 7 for failure to meet work commitments - specifically, to spud a well on one of three Guitar leases by March 31 - was not cured.
On Sept. 4, Samuel Nappi, president of Alliance Exploration, which operates the North Slope unit, was sent a certified letter from the commissioner saying Alliance's request for a reconsideration was denied.
An "appellant affected by this final administrative order and decision" can file an appeal with the Superior Court within 30 days, per "Alaska Rules of Court and to the extent permitted by applicable law," Feige said.
- Kay Cashman
See full stories in Sept. 15 issue available online Friday, Sept. 13 at www.PetroleumNews.com
For information on PN's news bulletin service, call 907-522-9469. PO Box 231651, Anchorage, AK 99523 - 1651
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