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Bald Eagle flies north for first gig The small Texas independent picks up six Donkel/Cade leases south of Prudhoe, all exploration plans tied to future financing Eric Lidji Petroleum News
Alaska’s North Slope is a tough place to start life as a small oil company, but a newly created independent from Texas hopes to make a go of it.
Bald Eagle Energy Inc recently acquired a 100 percent working interest in six state leases in the central North Slope, the company announced on Aug. 11.
The leases cover 18,418 acres starting along the southern border of the BP-operated Prudhoe Bay unit, and previously belonged to Daniel K. Donkel and Samuel H. Cade. Bald Eagle bought the leases from Donkel and Cade for $621,608.
The leases are not contiguous, but five of the six leases sit along the trans-Alaska oil pipeline and the Dalton Highway. A sixth lease sits south of the Jacob’s Ladder unit operated by Anadarko. All six leases expire on Jan. 31, 2012.
Although several previous exploration wells dot the area around the six leases, only one exploration well has been drilled within the Bald Eagle leases. Atlantic Richfield Co. drilled the North Franklin Bluffs Unit No. 1 on ADL 390956 in 1972 and 1973 to test for gas.
Small company, small purse Although Bald Eagle signed the agreement for the leases back in April, the company still needs to take care of some preliminary paperwork before it can begin any exploration activities in Alaska. As of Aug. 13, the company did not have a state business license, and had not notified the state Division of Oil and Gas about the purchase of the leases.
Bald Eagle is a very new company. It began in October 2005 as Columbia Ventures Inc, a mining exploration company with a prospect in British Columbia. The company appointed new senior management in March, and changed its name to Bald Eagle at the end of June after shifting its focus to oil and gas exploration.
The name Bald Eagle is meant to symbolize a commitment to producing domestic sources of oil “toward enhancing America’s energy independence,” the company wrote in a prepared statement.
“Our business model stresses reduced capital expenditures through a minimized team of experienced management, retaining the consulting services of industry experts only when needed, and utilizing third party drilling companies to limit equipment and operating expenses,” the company said.
Bald Eagle plans to create an exploration program for its North Slope leases based on the amount of financing it can secure, according to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings made toward the end of May. However, as is common with small companies known as “penny stocks,” Bald Eagle is not currently flush with cash.
Between October 2007 and March 2008, “our sole source of financing came in the form of short-term loans advanced to us by our sole executive officer and director, Alvaro Vollmers,” the company wrote in those filings.
Before starting with Bald Eagle, Vollmers was the manager of Marine and Aviation Insurance with American International Group Inc, and has previously worked for Procter & Gamble Co and the government of Peru, according to the company Web site.
The company is based in Dallas, but lists an Alaska office on its Web site with an address of 310 K Street, Suite 200 in Anchorage.
Vollmers did not return calls to discuss the company’s plans in Alaska.
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