Murkowski names Jim Clark to ANGDA board
The Minerals Management Service said today that there is no current industry interest in its proposed North Basin oil and gas lease sale.
The agency's first call for information for the area closed April 22.
"We didn't expect much interest from companies at this time," said MMS Regional Director John Goll. "This first call for information got the idea of a small focused sale out to the companies. I hope that they will consider the area and its needs and how working in Norton Sound might work into upcoming exploration plans."
MMS said areas off Western Alaska are largely unexplored and have no infrastructure to support oil and gas exploration. The agency believes the area "may contain substantial natural gas resources" which could be used by local communities and also exported.
Nome, St. Lawrence Island and Yukon Delta communities are interested in new energy sources, the agency said.
MMS said this special interest process is a first for Alaska. The call requested that industry nominate small, very specific areas where they would commit to explore.
MMS said since there was no industry interest this year, it would defer the sale for a year and reissue the call. Although only one round of leasing would occur in this five-year program, MMS said it would continue to issue a call during through 2007 until there is sufficient interest.
November weather drops production
Weather continued to plague Alaska North Slope crude oil production in November, dropping the average to just 667,250 barrels per day for the month, down 9.48 percent from an October average of 737,141 bpd. Bad weather in Valdez slowed tanker loading in mid-November, forcing Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. to slow oil flow in the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, which went from 793,305 bpd Nov. 13 to a low of 267,804 bpd Nov. 20, and then ramped up, reaching 739,310 bpd on Nov. 23 and 806,579 on Nov. 30.
October’s weather problems were different: flooding in the Valdez area which affected fiber-optic communication lines along the pipeline and high winds and rain on the North Slope which knocked out power at Prudhoe Bay.
Figures reported by the Department of Revenue’s Tax Division show Valdez inventories peaking at more than 6.2 million barrels Nov. 19, after starting the month at 3.3 million barrels; there were 2.7 million barrels in inventory in Valdez Nov. 30.
The Joint Pipeline Office said in its Nov. 22 report that high winds and waves in the Valdez area beginning Nov. 15 interfered with tanker loading at the Valdez Marine Terminal, and North Slope producers had to prorate normal pipeline throughput “as inventory in the storage tanks at the VMT has gotten as high as 93.4 percent.”
JPO said there are 14 crude oil storage tanks available for use at the terminal, each of which can hold 510,000 barrels of oil, a total of 7.14 million barrels.
Note: See full stories in the Dec. 10 issue of Petroleum News which will be released online (www.PetroleumNews.com) this coming Friday.ployment.
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