|
Parts of North Slope opened to tundra travel, ice road construction State allows work to begin in two of four areas; still on hold for foothills, eastern coastal area; but interest pretty thin, Schultz says Allen Baker PNA Contributing Writer
Two of four areas on the North Slope have been opened to tundra travel, and much of the exploration work and other projects planned for this winter are under way.
“I think everything’s going forward at this point,” Gary Schultz, natural resource manager for the state Division of Mining, Land and Water told Petroleum News Alaska. “ConocoPhillips is building an ice road that will go to Alpine so they can start using it for hauling freight. It will also go to the Oberon well and whatever wells they’re drilling there in the area east of the Colville River this winter.”
Opened on Jan. 20 were the western coastal area and the lower foothills, while “we’re still in a holding pattern for the upper foothills and the eastern coastal area.”
Second-latest opening It was the second-latest opening on record. Only last year’s Jan. 25 opening was later. The openings were announced Jan. 17.
But Schultz says interest was far lower this year than in previous winter seasons.
Usually he gets a lot of calls about the opening.
“This year, my assistant and I were out on Friday (Jan. 17) and when we got back to the office there was not a single message on the telephone,” he said. “There’s just not that much going on this year.”
A couple of seismic projects are going ahead in the closed regions using low-pressure rubber-tired and rubber-tread vehicles, he said.
One is a 2-D seismic project for Anadarko in the upper foothills.
“We gave them approval on the condition that someone from the division ride along,” he said.
Four-way split Splitting the area into four regions turned out to be a good thing, Schultz said.
“It’s good to see the first year making a difference,” he said.
Last year, the division set up two regions, one coastal and one for the foothills. That winter, some area in the foothills never did freeze, he said, because of deep early snow.
“We saw there was a difference in conditions,” he said, which led to the decision to split the territory four ways.
As for the closed areas, “we’ll keep monitoring until we open it,” he said.
| 