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Anadarko: Alaska at the brink Houston-based independent has 2.2 million net acres and data, believes it is positioned in prospective areas for next significant wave of oil and gas exploration on Alaska’s North Slope Kristen Nelson Petroleum News Editor-in-Chief
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. has an interest in almost 5 million acres in Alaska and 2.2 million net acres, and believes it is well positioned for the next significant wave of exploration in Alaska, the company’s frontier exploration manager, Greg Hebertson, said Nov. 16.
Anadarko’s position in land ranges from 22 percent in and around Alpine to 100 percent on the eastern North Slope, he told the Resource Development Council’s annual conference in Anchorage.
Anadarko has also invested in new North Slope data, participating in more than 35 exploration wells and possessing more than 5,000 miles of 3-D seismic and close to 2,000 line miles of proprietary 2-D data.
“We feel we have accumulated an enviable position with respect to data and are positioned well for the next wave of significant exploration in Alaska,” Hebertson said.
The data have allowed Anadarko to increase its “geotechnical understanding of the basins, maturing a deep inventory of opportunities and building a land and data position that will allow us to execute exploration programs well into the future.” Looking for anchor fields Anadarko is looking for anchor fields, fields like Alpine — in which Anadarko is a partner — that can support their own infrastructure. It believes Alaska is one of the last places in North America where anchor fields can be found. That infrastructure then supports satellite development “and serves as a hub for satellite exploration in the future.”
Anadarko looks for “outstanding technical partnerships,” such as its partnership with ConocoPhillips Alaska (formerly ARCO Alaska and Phillips Alaska), Union Texas Petroleum and Pioneer Natural Resources in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, and its joint venture with Petro-Canada in the Foothills.
Hebertson said “the right technical partnership is a critical part of our long-term strategy and as a result we’re not timid about deferring or delaying projects until such partnerships are in place.”
There are commercial challenges in operating in Alaska, and Anadarko will “actively work to mitigate these risks.”
“You will see Anadarko taking a leadership position in addressing issues that impact the delicate commercial aspects of our projects,” he said. Lack of infrastructure a challenge The U.S. Geological Survey and Minerals Management Service see great resource potential onshore and offshore Alaska, he noted, but currently available infrastructure is focused on existing fields, “which severely impacts the industry’s ability to access and to economically exploit these future resources.” In nearly 40 years of exploration on the North Slope “we have exploited less than 10 percent of the available area.”
Alpine was the last major anchor discovery on the North Slope and pushed infrastructure 20 miles to the west from Kuparuk, but “new anchor exploration is needed” to access other resources.
There are a number of challenges in anchor exploration: high costs, long lead times for exploration and appraisal and limited road access.
Hebertson said that while these challenges are not insurmountable individually, collectively “they make projects less competitive with other opportunities within a given portfolio.”
A stable tax regime is important, he said, and regulations need to be based on sound science. Regular and predictable lease sales are important as is “access to available facilities.”
Exploration incentives encourage exploration, he said, and Anadarko encourages continuation and expansion of that program.
“An aggressive incentive program is one way to help Alaska projects compete with opportunities worldwide.”
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