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Oil patch insider: Conoco to drill 4 NPR-A wells;
Pantheon raises $16M; Winegarner
in Asia; STaX bitcoin mining permit
Kay Cashman Petroleum News
As first reported by Bloomberg on July 14, ConocoPhillips is seeking authorization from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to conduct exploration activities in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska during the winter season of 2025-26.
Any oil discovered will likely be processed through the company's Willow project, which is under construction and is already expected to produce some 600 million barrels over a period of 30 years, beginning in 2029 and peaking at around 180,000 barrels per day.
The Bloomberg report included an interview with Erec Isaacson, president of ConocoPhillips Alaska.
Following an exploration campaign, the company began pursuing the large Willow discovery at the Bear Tooth unit in 2018 and sanctioned the $7.5 billion project in late 2023.
ConocoPhillips operates two units in the petroleum reserve: Greater Mooses Tooth and Bear Tooth.
The company's Anchorage-based spokeswoman Rebecca Boys told Petroleum News July 15 that ConocoPhillips has applied for a seismic program "south of the Greater Mooses Tooth and the Bear Tooth units" and a "one-well exploration program in the Greater Mooses Tooth unit."
The company has also requested authorization for a "three-well exploration program with one well in the Bear Tooth unit and two wells to the west."
Boys said "ConocoPhillips is dedicated to the safe and responsible development" of its leaseholds in Alaska for the benefit of all Alaskans and the nation's energy security.
"We recognize the strategic importance of resource development in the state," she said in an email to Petroleum News.
She also referred to the company's "more than 50-year track record of responsibly exploring for and developing Alaska's resources."
ConocoPhillips' stepped-up exploration activities in the petroleum reserve will deliver "well-paying union jobs and economic benefits for local Alaska Native communities and the state of Alaska," Boys said.
The company has invested billions of dollars to acquire leases in the NPR-A, conduct exploration activities, and develop its leases under some of the most stringent environmental protections in the world.
The NPR-A is a petroleum reserve that was set aside by Congress for oil development.
--KAY CASHMAN
Pantheon raises $16.25 million Pantheon Resources announced July 7 that it has raised $16.25 million (before expenses) by way of a conditional placing and subscriptions of new ordinary shares.
Pantheon is an oil and gas company developing the Kodiak and Ahpun projects located in close proximity to pipeline and transportation infrastructure on Alaska's North Slope.
The funding will be used in support of the following:
1) Drilling and operational activities at Dubhe-1 appraisal well in the company's Talitha unit;
2) Development planning activities for Ahpun;
3) Commercial activities related to gas monetization;
4) Preparation of a U.S. stock exchange listing targeting either the end of 2025 or during Q1 2026 (subject to market conditions).
With regards to drilling the Dubhe-1 appraisal well, the company said it intends to drill this in the "immediate near future."
Assuming the appraisal well is successful, Pantheon said it would then conduct a lateral completion and long-term flow test, which is subject to available capital.
"This placement strengthens our hand in discussions around gas commercialization and in dealings with other potential field development project stakeholders. We now have a clear timetable for drilling of the Dubhe-1 well without risking operational commitments in excess of our financial resources," Pantheon said.
"We made the decision to accept a reasonably priced offer of funding with an eye to our longer-term opportunity set and are grateful to investors for presenting this option to the company."
As reported in the May 25 issue of Petroleum News, Pantheon operator Great Bear Pantheon has received approval from the Alaska Department of Natural Resources' Division of Oil and Gas for a unit plan of operations for the Dubhe-1 exploration well.
The Anchorage-based company is run by Patrick Galvin.
In its May 16 approval, the division said the Dubhe-1 well will be some 27 miles south of Deadhorse.
Megrez, also a Talitha unit exploration well, did not find appreciable quantities of oil or gas, Pantheon Resources said May 21. That well was drilled last year, with testing continuing into 2025.
Work at Dubhe is scheduled to begin soon with construction of a 500-foot by 310-foot gravel pad 1,500 feet west of the Dalton Highway, and a gravel road 50-feet wide by 1,400-feet long connecting it to the highway.
The pad will accommodate a drilling rig, drilling support facilities, satellite office camp, storage areas and maintenance building.
Gravel for the road and pad will be from an existing material site at milepost 390 of the Dalton Highway.
--KAY CASHMAN
Winegarner visits Asia for Donkel/Cade GPTU As of July 3, Jim Winegarner was still in Asia looking to raise funds for Donkel and Cade.
As reported in the July 6 issue of Petroleum News, Donkel Oil and Gas' plan of exploration for the Greater Point Thomson unit, or GPTU, on and offshore the eastern North Slope was recently conditionally approved by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources' Division of Oil and Gas.
On the east the GPTU borders the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Working interest owners are Daniel Donkel and Samuel Cade, with Donkel Oil & Gas as unit operator.
Donkel O&G wanted the GPTU to cover 58,790 acres but based upon the division's review the agency reduced the acreage to 35,122 acres.
The approved unit includes both western and eastern acreage but excludes unleased state lands and the Bachner/Forsgren acreage because unleased lands cannot be in a unit and Bachner/Forsgren didn't ratify the proposed GPTU agreements.
The division excluded leases that its analysis doesn't show contain a hydrocarbon reservoir/accumulation as required by statute and said the company's 5-year exploration plan "fails to show a determined commitment to developing the resources that potentially underlie those leases."
Donkel O&G committed to drill a single well on the western portion of the GPTU.
The division wants two exploration wells drilled -- one in the western acreage and one in the eastern. It requires Donkel O&G to post a $2.5 million bond, with half by June 25, 2026, and half by June 25, 2028. Upon completion of the two exploration wells, the $2.5 million bond will be returned to the applicant.
In a July 3 text to Petroleum News, Winegarner said he had traveled to Seoul, Tokyo and Taipei: "We had very good meetings. All were impressed with the Donkel/Cade technical team and the Greater Pt Thomson Unit technical work presented. All recognized the synergy between the Alaska LNG project and the opportunity to add more resources to the Alaska LNG project at the Greater Pt Thomson Unit.
"Our message to each company was that 'Alaska is open for business and a great place to invest!'
"We have generated a lot of interest in the GPTU opportunity and Alaska.
--KAY CASHMAN
STaX gets 5-year permit for bitcoin mining test project On July 7, Wasilla-based STaX Capital Partners received approval from Alaska's Division of Oil and Gas for a five-year land use permit for a bitcoin mining test project at Franklin Bluffs. Sparrow Mahoney is president and CEO of STaX.
STaX had requested authorization to utilize up to 30 acres of available space on the Franklin Bluffs Pad for Phase 1 of a Bitcoin mining test project.
STaX plans to place 10 megawatt mobile gas turbine generator sets, or similar generators capable of providing in total up to 50 megawatts of power to modular Bitcoin mining pods at the pad.
The Phase 1 project is temporary and will serve as proof-of-concept for potential future development.
The project area has two sections; the main project will utilize the southeast corner of the main Franklin Bluffs pad, while a support site will be located on the west corner of the Franklin Bluffs satellite pad. STaX will utilize the existing access road between the two sites.
The Franklin Bluffs main pad will contain the Bitcoin mining pods, power generators, maintenance equipment and materials, staging area and other supporting equipment. The satellite pad will contain mobile camps for housing workers and supporting equipment.
Both sites will have temporary fencing around the perimeter that will not restrict access to the roadway.
In its decision the division said the scope of the decision is to issue a temporary land use permit to STaX to conduct a pilot test of a Bitcoin mining operation on pre-disturbed state land on the North Slope, including tidelands, shorelands and submerged land.
The permit term was to begin July 2 with an ending date of July 1, 2030.
--KAY CASHMAN
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