BRPC permitting Mustang road

Shortly after getting state backing for the project, Brooks Range Petroleum Corp. has begun permitting a gravel road to its Mustang prospect, in the central North Slope.

The independent is seeking an easement on state lands for a 100-foot wide road running some 5.06 miles from the Kuparuk River road system to the proposed site of the Mustang pad and gravel mine in the Southern Miluveach unit, on the southwest corner of Kuparuk.

The road, the pad and the mine are included in the package of infrastructure Brooks Range Petroleum Corp. is building at Mustang in partnership with the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, through a joint venture executed in December. The $25 million project also includes a small access road from the pad to the mine, and a winter ice road. AIDEA is paying up to $20 million of the total project cost, with Brooks Range Petroleum paying the remainder, including any cost overruns, should they occur.

The deal also involved creating a company, Mustang Road LLC, to build, operate and maintain the infrastructure. Mustang Road is not listed on the current public notice.

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources is taking comments through Jan. 18.

While the Division of Mining, Land and Water typically handles easement applications, it delegated its adjudication authority to the Division of Oil and Gas for this particular case.

—Eric Lidji