DNR extends Narwhal comment period

Kay Cashman

Petroleum News

On March 15 the Alaska Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Oil and Gas issued a public notice of an application by Anchorage-based Narwhal LLC to expand the West Harrison Bay Unit, saying that the 30-day public comment period has been extended from March 23 to April 6.

The proposed West Harrison Bay Unit expansion includes all leases currently in the West Harrison Bay Unit, totaling approximately 81,000 acres, and an additional 10 Narwhal leases, totaling 60,114 acres for a combined total of 141,114 acres.

The unit is technically operated by Shell Offshore Inc. but the company has not wanted to operate in Alaska and has unsuccessfully been seeking a partner or buyer to operate the unit.

In its application Narwhal argued that unit expansion promotes earlier exploratory drilling as Narwhal has already applied for the federal permits necessary to drill in the 2023-2024 winter season.

Exploration leading to development and production sooner rather than later benefits Shell, Narwhal and the state of Alaska, Narwhal said.

Narwhal’s plan of exploration calls for completing at least two exploration wells to evaluate the Nanushuk formation.

Pending ongoing analysis of geophysical data, one of the exploration wells may be drilled deeper to evaluate the Torok formation.

Preliminary field activities will be conducted this summer to support project permitting, planning, and engineering for the winter drilling program.

See related story in the March 12 issue of Petroleum News, titled “SOA to referee?”

- KAY CASHMAN