Next step for ANS Guitar unit is Superior Court, says DNR commissioner Feige
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Petroleum News
As previously reported in Petroleum News, 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 adjacent to the Prudhoe Bay 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 wrote.
In Alliance’s plan of exploration, approved by the division in 2017 in conjunction with Guitar unit formation, the company promised to drill a well in the winter of 2018 or 2019.
The well was to penetrate the Ivishak, the formation that hosts the Prudhoe Bay reservoir, with a lateral well targeting a seismic anomaly in the Kuparuk C.
Positive results from the first well would trigger a plan for delineation drilling, Alliance said.
Oil potential indicates a potential upside of 200-300 million barrels of oil, another company executive previously told Petroleum News.
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