Kuukpik unit terminated

Kristen Nelson

The Kuukpik unit has been terminated. It included state oil and gas leases onshore and offshore at the mouth of the Colville River between the Colville River unit and the Kuparuk River unit. Kuukpik unit operator Phillips Alaska Inc. notified the state May 30 that it would not commit to drill a well in the Kuukpik unit before June 1, 2002, as required by the third plan of exploration for the unit, and acknowledged that the unit would automatically terminate and any leases without a certified well would also be surrendered and terminate effective June 1, 2001.

Division of Oil and Gas Director Mark Myers said in a June 5 letter to Phillips Alaska that six leases in the former unit, ADLs 355036, 355037, 355038, 355039, 364477 and 364478, would remain valid because they contain wells certified by the state as capable of production.

Nine other leases did not have certified wells, and those leases were surrendered and expired effective June 1, Myers said.