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DNR releasing well and seismic data
Data come from 23 wells, three seismic surveys; DNR catching up on backlog in processing data associated with tax credits ALAN BAILEY Petroleum News
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources has been continuing to release seismic and well data obtained from companies that have been exploring for oil and gas in the state. In October the agency noticed its intent to release the data for two seismic surveys and 13 wells, with a notice of intent to release data from a further seismic survey following in November. A notice triggers a 30-day waiting period prior to the actual data release, in case there is an appeal against the release. Tax credit requirement Under the terms of oil and gas tax credits, companies in receipt of tax credit certificates for seismic surveying and drilling have to file the resulting seismic and well data with DNR - the agency can then release the data to the public after 10 years for seismic data and after two years for well data. However, some of the data now being released dates from before these statutory timelines. Diane Hunt, external relations coordinator for Alaska’s Division of Oil and Gas, has told Petroleum News that the greater than expected complexity of administering data submissions has resulted in a backlog in the data release.
“The tax credit statues evolved substantially in the years since they were first implemented, with the creation of new types of credits and numerous modifications of older ones, leading to a substantial increase in the number and varieties of projects that the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Revenue have had to adjudicate,” Hunt said. “The sheer volume of data involved skyrocketed with the advances in 3-D seismic acquisition and processing, challenging our processing and storage capacity.”
The need for the authorization of the release of data from non-public lands, under the terms of a new private landowner exemption, has also slowed the preparation of data sets for public release. However, DNR is now making progress in dealing with the data backlog, Hunt said.
Arctic data The seismic surveys noticed in October for release were conducted by Fairweather Geophysical and Veritas DGC in the Harrison Bay area of the Beaufort Sea and an onshore region of state land, immediately south of and overlapping the Colville River unit.
In the North Slope region, the wells include the Chandler No. 1 and Gubik No. 4 wells, drilled by Anadarko Petroleum Corp. in 2009 as part of a program to search for natural gas resources in the Brooks Range foothills. Also included are Great Bear Petroleum’s Alcor No. 1 well, drilled in 2012, ConocoPhillips’ Flat Top No. 1 well, drilled in 2014 in the Greater Mooses Tooth unit, and Repsol’s Tuttu No. 1 well, immediately south of the Kuparuk River and Prudhoe Bay units. The release includes a couple of wells drilled by Savant Alaska in the Badami unit and two wells drilled by Linc Energy Operations at Umiat. Cook Inlet data Well data noticed in October for release for the Cook Inlet basin include data for Apache Alaska Corp.’s Kaldachabuna No. 2 well, drilled onshore on the west side of the inlet in 2012; Furie Operating Alaska’s KLU Nos. 2A, 3 and 4 wells; three wells drilled by AIX Energy in the Kenai Loop gas field; Nordaq Energy’s Tiger Eye Central No. 1 well; and Buccaneer Alaskan Operations’ West Eagle No. 1 well in the southern Kenai Peninsula. Also included are the Olson Creek No. 1, Otter No. 1, Otter No. 1A and Sword No. 1 wells, all drilled by Cook Inlet Energy LLC.
For the Copper River basin, DNR has noticed the pending release of the data for the Rutter and Wilbanks Ahtna No. 1-19 gas exploration well, completed in 2005.
On Nov. 16 DNR noticed the pending release of the data from a 3-D seismic survey that Veritas DGC conducted over the Cosmopolitan prospect offshore in the Cook Inlet. That was presumably the survey that ConocoPhillips and Pioneer Natural Resources commissioned in 2005 as part of an investigation into the development of the Cosmopolitan oil field. BlueCrest Energy has since been using the data in conjunction with its Cosmopolitan development plans.
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