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THE EXPLORERS 2004: Prodigy seeking Cook Inlet partners Paul Fenemore heading up effort to find partners for Northern Lights project in Alaska Kay Cashman Petroleum News
Prodigy Alaska is seeking partners to participate in the drilling of two test wells to a depth of around 16,700 feet TVD and, if successful, the development of its Northern Lights project in the upper Cook Inlet basin of Southcentral Alaska.
The Irving, Texas-based independent’s new president, Paul Fenemore, is spearheading the firm’s effort to bring in partners for its Northern Lights project which he says has “estimated gross recoverable oil reserves and resource potential in the range of 111-358 million barrels of oil equivalent.”
Prodigy Alaska LLC was formed in 2001 for the purpose of exploring for and developing oil and gas reserves in the Cook Inlet basin. Prodigy has acquired a 100 percent working interest in 15 leases on 36,205 gross acres in the upper Cook Inlet basin. All of the leases are located in water depths of 100 feet or less and are close to pipelines and oil and gas infrastructure, Fenemore told Petroleum News Oct. 28.
Dave Doherty, Prodigy Alaska’s exploration manager, spent 14 years in Alaska with ARCO, during which time he was responsible for taking a new look at the geology of the Cook Inlet basin.
Fenemore, who is also president of Prodigy Oil and Gas, has spent much of his 27 years in the oil business involved in both domestic U.S. and international projects, including a significant amount of time on North Sea projects.
“In many ways the Cook Inlet is very similar to the North Sea, with regard to operations and the related costs involved, but is very much less explored,” Fenemore said.
“The Cook Inlet has a lot in common with the East Irish Sea in the UK. They’re both relatively remote basins; if you bring a rig in, it is likely that it will remain active there for several years,” he said, referring to Cook Inlet’s need for a jack-up rig.
“It’s been difficult getting people interested in Alaska. Everyone thinks of the North Slope and its extreme climate and the costs involved in doing business there. … They don’t quite seem to grasp that the Cook Inlet is not in the Arctic, not of the same mold,” Fenemore said. “There’s a lot of room in Cook Inlet for medium-sized independent oil companies to cut their teeth.
Northern Lights is on the central part of the North Cook Inlet structure. Fenemore said this anticline is approximately 23 miles long, 3 to 6 miles wide, and is characterized by pronounced, steep-sided domes at both ends. “Notably, the northern dome of the North Cook Inlet structure contains the Tyonek Deep oil field and in the opinion of Prodigy there is strong technical support for a significant extension of this undeveloped field into the Northern Lights project area.” Of the 17 wells drilled into the Tyonek Deep on the structure, 15 were deemed productive, and eight tested at initial rates of up to 3,600 barrels of oil per day, per zone, Fenemore said.
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