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Furie applies for seismic survey permit Wants to conduct offshore 3-D survey in Kitchen Lights unit in Alaska’s Cook Inlet to better characterize subsurface geology Alan Bailey Petroleum News
Furie Operating Alaska has applied to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources for a permit to conduct a 3-D seismic survey in the Kitchen Lights unit in the Cook Inlet. The company has been conducting offshore exploration drilling in the unit using the Spartan 151 jack-up drilling rig and recently completed testing of its third well in the unit before starting to drill a fourth well. According Furie’s plan for the seismic survey submitted to Alaska’s Division of Oil and Gas, Furie, having “encountered potential oil and gas reserves,” wants to acquire 3-D seismic data “to characterize the subsurface geological structure and confirm exploration and drilling targets and reservoirs.”
To ensure data coverage of the entire Kitchen Lights unit the boundary of the proposed seismic survey area lies a couple of miles or so outside the unit boundary.
The state’s public notice for the permit application says that Furie anticipates taking 120 days to complete the survey, with survey start and end dates dependent on the timing of permit authorization. The exact duration of the survey will depend on factors such as the Cook Inlet commercial fishing schedule and any other seismic operations conducted in adjacent areas, the state says. Furie’s plan says that the company anticipates starting the survey in a high-priority part of the unit, referred to as the Corsair block, followed by a northern block, and then central and southwestern blocks.
Other permits The plan says that, in addition to a state geophysical permit, Furie will need an incidental harassment authorization from the National Marine Fisheries Service, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit and a letter of concurrence from the State Historic Preservation Office before the survey can start.
Furie says that it has not yet selected a contractor to carry out the survey but that it anticipates the use of two seismic source vessels, each towing an array of air guns for generating seismic sound signals. Three shallow-draft, jet-driven vessels will deploy nodal seismic receivers tethered in lines, units or patches on the seafloor. An individual “patch” may consist of three to eight lines of receivers, with each line four to 10 miles in length, spaced 8,000 to 1,700 feet apart, Furie’s plan says.
Two additional boats will provide offshore support and crew transportation, the plan says.
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