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Pioneer expands activities in Alaska; signs second NPR-A deal
Kay Cashman
Pioneer Natural Resources said Jan. 13 that it has signed an exploration agreement with ConocoPhillips Alaska and Anadarko Petroleum for a 20 percent interest in approximately 452,000 additional acres in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The Dallas-based independent, which has offices in Anchorage, will participate in an NPR-A exploration program in the first quarter of this year with ConocoPhillips as operator. (See related story on page A1.)
The deal gives Pioneer rights to “extensive seismic and geologic data” in the NPR-A Northeast planning area.
In 2004 Pioneer signed an exploration agreement with the same companies, acquiring a 20 percent interest in 167,000 acres in the Northeast planning area and in adjacent federal offshore waters.
Pioneer participated in the Northwest NPR-A lease sale last year, acquiring working interests ranging from 20 to 30 percent on approximately 808,000 acres, the company said.
“This new joint venture agreement positions us to participate in near-term, high-impact exploration opportunities on trend with existing discoveries. The new acreage complements our existing NPR-A acreage as it is much closer to infrastructure and could provide a bridge to our large holdings in the northwest,” Scott Sheffield, Pioneer’s chairman and CEO, said. “When all of the related assignments have been approved, Pioneer will have amassed an Alaskan undeveloped acreage portfolio in excess of 1.6 million gross acres and will hold the third largest net position in the state.”
Pioneer’s executive vice president of worldwide exploration, Chris Cheatwood, said the company expects to spend more than $50 million on its Alaska portfolio in 2005 “with a vision of growing these assets into a new core division for Pioneer.” Gwydyr Bay drilling scheduled for 2006 Pioneer also said Jan. 13 that it plans to drill two wells during the winter of 2005-2006 at its Gwydyr Bay development just north of the BP-operated Prudhoe Bay unit as part of its plan to “commercialize several small oil discoveries.” In October, the company thought drilling might commence as soon as this winter.
Pioneer has a 100 percent working interest at Gwydyr Bay where it applied to the state of Alaska last fall for exploration and production permits that include a four-acre gravel pad and a 2.8-mile gravel access road to a site three miles north of Prudhoe’s T Pad, which is in the vicinity of BP’s Pete’s Wicked No. 1 exploration well. Produced fluids would be processed at an existing Prudhoe Bay facility.
“The Gwydyr Bay area contains relatively small isolated hydrocarbon accumulations” discovered during exploration by BP and ARCO, Pioneer said. “These oil fields have not previously been developed due to their relative isolation and size.” (See story in Petroleum News’ Oct. 17, 2004 edition at www.PetroleumNews.com)
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