Alaska's DNR releases North Slope Discoveries & Prospects Map

Kay Cashman

Petrolem News

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources- Division of Oil and Gas published the latest North Slope Discoveries and Prospects Map on March 4.

(See map in the online issue PDF)

The giant map shows the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska on the west, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and coastal plain on the far right, all 2023 through 2025 exploration wellheads, proposed wells, all units, all major bodies of water and rivers, lease boundaries within discoveries and prospects. Bodies of water on the map include Mikkelsen Bay, Beaufort Sea, Beaufort Sea OCS, Harrison Bay, Smith Bay and more.

An especially interesting cut-in labelled New Developments in the Brookian-Nanushuk and Torok includes everything from West Willow and Willow east to GMT2 and GMT1 to Horseshoe with Stirrup-1, Nan 0, Qannik, and south to Alpine, and then Pikka with Qugruk-3, Nan 2, Nan 3 and the Pikka Satellites with Nan 5, Nan 5 Fan, Nan 6 and Nan 7. Next comes Pikka East with Mitquq, Mitquq-1ST, Nan 8, Nan 9 and Nan 10 and Alpine C.

Created, edited, and published by the Division of Oil and Gas, the information displayed is for graphic illustration only. The source documents remain the official record. Consult the division- s unit files, lease files, and Land Administration System (LAS), or other sources comprising the official public record for additional information.

Discrepancies in boundary alignments are the result of merging multiple data sets from a number of different sources.

The map displays many unnamed prospects as well, showing their boundaries.

Discovery and prospect operators are noted on the map by individual colors. They include the following: 88 Energy, ConocoPhillips, Great Bear Pantheon, Narwhal, Oil Search and Smith Bay Oil.

Federal ownership, such as the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, is identified on the map by slanted lines.

Proposed wells, presumably for this winter or next, are interesting. For example on the Lagniappe acreage on the eastern North Slope they include Montucky 1, and at Badami the proposed wells are Killian 1 and Killian 2, and in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska near ConocoPhillips acreage the proposed wells are West Castle 1 and West Castle 2.

Congratulations to the division for producing another useful and interesting map!

-KAY CASHMAN