BP says Liberty not included in its lease offering
BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. spokesman Paul Laird told PNA this afternoon that its Beaufort Sea Liberty prospect will not be on the list of North Slope oil and gas properties BP is looking at divesting.
As per an earlier PNA news bulletin, BP is preparing an offering of most of its non-unitized leases on the slope, excluding acreage in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and the Brooks Range Foothills. This afternoon Laird added BP’s offshore Liberty prospect to that list — a list, he pointed out, that is not yet final.
“We're exploring development options for Liberty right now, so it is being excluded from acreage that were looking at giving other companies the opportunity to acquire and explore,” Laird said.
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On Oct. 12 Alaska’s Department of Environmental Conservation received an application for renewal of an Oil Discharge Prevention and Contingency Plan from Anadarko Petroleum for the eastern North Slope Jacob’s Ladder oil prospect.
Anadarko’s Alaska spokesman Mark Hanley told Petroleum News Aug. 16 (see “Slope heating up” in the Aug. 20 issue of Petroleum News) that the company was almost certainly going to drill a well at Jacob’s Ladder, but two wells in the gas-prone Brooks Range Foothills were a less likely possibility because of equipment availability.
According to DEC, operator Anadarko is planning to conduct a regional, multi-year onshore oil and gas exploration drilling program, starting with drilling and testing more than one well at Jacob’s Ladder during the upcoming winter drilling season.
“Exploration wells will be drilled from an onshore ice pad approximately 17 miles southwest of Badami and approximately 20 miles southeast of Deadhorse in the Jacob’s Ladder unit,” DEC said in its public notice. “An ice road will be constructed to the proposed drilling location and all activities are planned to be completed during the 2006-2007 drilling season. The plan proposes to address oil spill prevention and response measures to support their operation for a proposed response planning standard (RPS) of 5,500 barrels per day for 15 days to total 82,500 barrels at the drilling site.”
Public comments are due within 30 days of publication of the Oct. 12 notice. DEC will hold a public hearing on Anadarko’s spill plan application if it determines that good cause exists. Residents in the affected area or the governing body of an affected municipality may request a public hearing by writing to DEC within 30 days of the Oct. 2 notice.
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