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BLM issues environmental assessment for Anadarko’s exploration in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska Anadarko drops drilling at Kanna, east of Altamura, in response to concerns about proximity to known paleontological, subsistence resources near Colville River Kristen Nelson PNA Editor-in-Chief
The environmental assessment is out for Anadarko Petroleum Corp.’s Altamura exploration prospect in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska approximately 19 miles southwest of Nuiqsut and four to six miles west of the Colville River.
The Bureau of Land Management released the environmental assessment Dec. 13; comments are due Jan. 16. BLM will then issue a decision.
Anadarko is proposing to drill two exploratory wells during the next two years at Altamura south of recent NPR-A discoveries where Anadarko is a partner to operator Phillips Alaska Inc.
BLM said that the purpose of the Altamura project is to delineate the potential southern extension of the oil and gas formation discovered on the nearby leases.
Kanna eliminated from proposal Anadarko had also proposed to drill the Kanna prospect east of Altamura, but BLM said that as the project was discussed with local communities, the North Slope Borough, the NPR-A Subsistence Advisory Panel and other agencies and entities, Anadarko eliminated drilling at Kanna, relocated the ice airstrip from lake to land-based and to added special provisions for spill response during spring operations.
BLM said Kanna was eliminated from the proposal because it is closer to the Colville River and its special resources, paleontological and subsistence, and farther from discoveries to the north. A world-class dinosaur paleontological site occurs approximately six miles east of Altamura — the northernmost occurrence of dinosaur fossils in North America — and that the Altamura area is used year round for hunting and gathering, but mostly in the winter, when hunters from Nuiqsut travel south to the hills approximately 20 miles south of Altamura.
Another alternative considered, but eliminated from detailed analysis, was constructing either one or the other Altamura pads, but not both. The agency said drilling from only one of the two Altamura sites “was eliminated from further evaluation because it reduces (Anadarko’s) flexibility to economically explore its valid lease holdings.”
End of drilling in April In the last two winters, both Phillips and BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. have conducted winter exploration in the NPR-A. BLM said there were essentially no observable impacts along the overland trail used in early 2000 and no impacts of concern documented in 2001. All drilling sites were cleared and restored to the satisfaction of BLM, the North Slope Borough and the community of Nuiqsut.
BLM said that in deference to Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation concerns, Anadarko will limit drilling in the spring. If drilling beyond April 8, Anadarko will have a constructed ice pad available as a contingency for drilling a relief well. In addition, BLM said that Anadarko has agreed it will not drill into any new hydrocarbon zones after April 15, although it can sidetrack and test known zones.
All testing will be completed by May 1 and Anadarko will demobilize from the site by May 15, a date BLM called “a conservative estimate of the onset of breakup.”
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