|
THE EXPLORERS 2006 - True North still jazzed about Alaska Texas independent completes acquisition of 33,000-acre Alaska lease portfolio; woos potential partners Rose Ragsdale For Petroleum News
Six months after blowing into Alaska’s oil patch, a whirlwind startup out of Houston, Texas, is closing in on completion of its first lease acquisitions and making aggressive plans for the future.
The fledgling enterprise aimed to close in October on the acquisition of 22,917 acres in Cook Inlet onshore and offshore oil and gas leases and 10,000 acres of leases onshore and offshore 10 miles east of the North Slope’s Prudhoe Bay oil field. The leases formerly belonged to a host of small investors who are longtime players in Alaska’s oil and gas industry.
Massimiliano Pozzoni, who acquired the startup in January and changed its name to True North Energy Corp. in March, now serves as chairman and chief financial officer.
Drawing on Pozzoni’s background as an investment banker, True North Energy also raised capital with private placements and joined others in Lower 48 gas exploration.
In June, Pozzoni brought in John Folnovic, a 25-year veteran of northwestern Canada’s oil and gas industry, as True North Energy’s president and CEO.
Pozzoni and Folnovic aim to secure and develop a large portfolio of oil and gas properties in Alaska. The strategy calls for making big plays in Alaska and joining others in low-risk drilling ventures in Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma.
True North Energy told the Securities and Exchange Commission in September that it intends to spend $1.5 million during 2006 and 2007 on exploration and development activities such as seismic data acquisition, additional lease acquisition, technical studies and participating in joint venture development and exploration drilling.
“We do not anticipate any drilling on our Alaska properties over the next 12 months. Our primary effort in Alaska will be to acquire additional seismic data, conduct additional technical evaluation of our Alaska leases and to find compatible partners by selling down our 100 percent working interest to reduce our risk level and financial exposure,” the company said in a 10QSB filing Sept. 14.
Geologist: Harriet Point looks good Chief among True North Energy’s current plays in Cook Inlet is the Harriet Point prospect, 17,166 acres in contiguous parcels covering onshore and offshore areas along the western coastline of Cook Inlet’s Redoubt Bay.
A recent geological and geophysical assessment of the resource potential of Harriet Point shows the prospect has 400 million to 1,600 million barrels of oil in place and recoverable crude of 180 million to 700 million barrels.
Geologist H. Jerry Hodgden of Golden, Colo.-based Hodgden and Associates prepared the assessment for True North Energy, updating earlier work he did for Danco International in the 1980s. Hodgden’s interest in Alaska dates back to the 1950s and his actual exploration activities in the state date from work on the Lorainne Prospect at the north end of Cook Inlet in the 1970s. He also explored the Goodnews Bay Platinum Project with a partner for 10 years in the 1980s and early 1990s.
After scrutinizing Danco’s Alaska holdings, Hodgden said he identified two prospects in the package that he liked very much, Redoubt Shoal and Harriet Point. He sold ownership interest in Harriet Point that he acquired from Danco to True North Energy earlier this year, but still owns an overriding royalty interest in the prospect.
“As you know, Redoubt Shoal is now producing, but I liked Harriet Point the best,” Hodgden told Petroleum News Oct. 17.
Hodgden said further seismic studies conducted by independent consultants Klipping and Associates in Denver and Boulder showed “a pretty good anticlinal feature.”
“Harriet Point has a triple threat aspect — it sits on the shoreline with accumulation within reach of directional drilling, and it’s shallow. It not only has strong potential for Hemlock and West Foreland, but the Tyonek formation looks pretty good too,” he said.
“This initial assessment of the Harriet Point Prospect, although limited in scope, is very encouraging and presents an excellent high reward-high risk exploratory opportunity for us,” Folnovic said.
He said the company would procure additional seismic data for further analysis and eventually would like to drill a shore-based well to test the prospect at a depth of 4,600 feet.
Wanted: JV partners The company also owns the North and South Beluga prospects totaling 5,811 acres. Adjacent to the mature Beluga River gas field owned by Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Municipal Light & Power of Anchorage, these tracts could yield additional gas reserves.
On the North Slope, the company purchased four 2,500-acre parcels (leases) onshore and offshore adjacent to the BP-operated Duck Island production unit.
True North Energy said it is continuing discussions with potential joint venture partners in Alaska and will continue to review other acreage for possible acquisition in Texas, Louisiana, Alaska and Canada.
| 