DNR posts useful new North Slope unit maps showing context

Kay Cashman

Petroleum News

Many of the North Slope unit maps on the Alaska Department of Natural Resources' Division of Oil & Gas website under Maps & GIS have been redone as of February 2024. Much improved, the new maps show the location of each unit rather than just the unit outline and lease numbers without any idea of what surrounds each unit, such as other units, rivers, etc.

(See map in the online issue PDF)

Providing this context makes the maps much more useful.

Map updates are a team effort, but the principal cartographer in developing the template and producing the new unit maps was Mikaela Ruga, the division's newest GIS analyst.

The new North Slope unit maps include PDFs of Alkaid, Grey Owl, Horseshoe, Kuparuk, Pikka, Quokka, Smith Bay and Talitha.

Other North Slope maps on the website include Activity Maps, Discovery and Prospect Maps, North Slope Royalty Share, Notification Lessee Maps and Working Ownership Maps.

Some of the Cook Inlet basin unit maps have also been redone as of February 2024, such as the Middle Ground Shoal unit map and the Nikolaevsk unit map, both of which are listed as terminated.

On its website the Division of Oil & Gas says it "manages lands for oil, gas, and geothermal exploration and development in a fair and transparent manner to maximize prudent use of resources for the greatest benefit of all Alaskans, and facilitates safe and environmentally conscious operation and maintenance of common carrier pipelines."

--KAY CASHMAN