State approves 9th Badami POD

The Alaska Division of Oil and Gas has approved a ninth plan of development for the Badami unit and deferred an automatic contraction of the eastern North Slope unit.

The two-year plan runs through Nov. 15, 2013, and calls for operator Savant Alaska LLC to hydraulically fracture and stimulate the B1-18A and B1-38 wells, sidetrack the B1-16 and B1-28 wells and drill an exploration well into the Red Wolf (Kekiktuk) prospect.

The Denver-based independent is currently working to secure a rig for this winter.

If Savant doesn’t drill at Red Wolf, the company must show the state a rig contract and an authorization funding expenditure by Dec. 15, 2012. Additionally, Savant must update the state by Aug. 15, 2012, on the activities it conducted this winter and brief the state of the results of that work by Aug. 15, 2013. If Savant fails to meet the commitments in the plan of development, the unit will contract down to the Badami Sands Participating Area.

If Savant secures a rig and meets it commitments, the state will defer an automatic contraction of the unit to July 15, 2013, from its original date of Aug. 1, 2008.

In the decision, the state also approved the relinquishment of 2,560 acres from the unit.

—Eric Lidji