BP drops plans for Slugger well; Myers says extension still possible

Kay Cashman, PNA publisher

BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. has decided not to drill a Slugger unit exploration well this coming winter, company spokesman Paul Laird told PNA Sept. 11. (See story on page 9.)

It’s “just too close — the loop on this one. There is not sufficient time for us to do all that we would need to do to drill a well in 2003,” he said.

Unit operator BP’s state-approved exploration plan calls for a well drilled, completed, suspended or abandoned by May 15 or BP and its partners Chevron USA Inc. and Phillips Alaska Inc. face the dissolution of the eastern North Slope unit, termination of 11 of its 14 leases and a $430,000 fine.

The partners have been looking for another partner, or partners, to help fund the well as per page 9 story.

State Division of Oil and Gas Director Mark Myers told PNA Sept. 12 “it isn’t over until it’s over.” The Slugger unit deadlines could be extended if “it’s in the best interest of the state to do so.”

“We would need reasonable assurances from BP that they were going to get the capital to explore and be compensated for lost time,” he said.

“We formed the unit because we thought it was in the state’s best interest, so there is always the possibility of extending the agreement. On the other hand, we can’t give a free ride and don’t want to see the acreage warehoused,” Myers said.