|
Repsol adds interest in Armstrong leases Royale, Savant, Woodstone lose or relinquish leases; ConocoPhillips adds Anadarko E&P Onshore as partner on Tofkat area leases ERIC LIDJI For Petroleum News
Armstrong Energy LLC has transferred minority interest in 10 North Slope leases to its exploration partner Repsol E&P USA Inc., according to recent state lease reports.
The leases are scattered across the large leasehold that the two companies own.
Armstrong transferred 49 percent working interest and 40.83333 percent royalty interest in ADL 393169, ADL 393170, ADL 393171 and ADL 393172 to Repsol. The four leases are located immediately south of the former Tofkat unit and the village of Nuiqsut.
Armstrong also transferred 49 percent working interest and 40.83333 percent royalty interest in ADL 393166, ADL 393167 and ADL 393168 to Repsol. The three leases are north of the Tofkat unit, where the company had planned to drill the Pikka No. 1 well this winter. The company cancelled the project upon request of villagers, who worried about excessive activity this winter. ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. is also planning a nearby exploration well this winter, and has agreed to share some results with Armstrong.
Armstrong transferred 25 percent working interest and 20.83333 percent royalty interest in ADL 393163, ADL 393164 and ADL 393165 to Repsol. The three leases are part of a larger block of acreage the companies hold in the area south of the Kuparuk River unit.
To date, the companies have focused their exploration activity almost entirely on the fairway between the Kuparuk River unit and the Colville River unit. The lone exception is the Kachemach No. 1 exploration well drilled on acreage south of Kuparuk. The recent transfers involve leases farther north and northeast of that earlier exploration well.
Armstrong plans to drill one exploration well this winter, the Horseshoe No. 1 well on ADL 392048, near the Meltwater satellite. In August 2016, several months before announcing plans to drill the well, Armstrong transferred a 25 percent working interest and 21.54167 percent royalty in the lease and two neighboring leases to Repsol.
Royale, Woodstone, Savant The state terminated 28 leases held by Royale Energy Inc. for failure to pay rent.
The leases were contained within two swaths. The first included 16 leases in the area between the Kadleroshilik River and the Shaviovik River in the central North Slope. The second included 12 leases farther to the west, beyond the trans-Alaska oil pipeline.
Royale Energy recently departed Alaska after several seasons of preliminary exploration activities focusing on unconventional as well as some conventional oil targets. The state terminated nine leases held by Woodstone Resources LLC for failure to pay rent. The state terminated six of the eight leases - ADL 391940, ADL 391941, ADL 391942, ADL 391943, ADL 391944 and ADL 391945 - the company held in a bundle between the trans-Alaska oil pipeline and the Toolik River. Those terminated leases included the ARCO Alaska Nora Fed No. 1 well. The state also terminated three of the eight leases - ADL 391937, ADL 391938 and ADL 391939- the company held farther west. Those leases included the BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. Itkillik Unit No. 1 well.
Savant Alaska LLC surrendered ADL 392098. The lease was located in the eastern North Slope, along the border with the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The lease was set to expire on Nov. 30, 2022. The lease was one of seven contiguous leases Savant held in the area, including one lease with the BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. Yukon Gold No. 1 well.
Colville River unit deals ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. transferred a 22 percent working interest and 17.6 percent royalty interest in seven leases to Anadarko E&P Onshore LLC. The leases are associated with the former Tofkat unit, which the company wants to include in the Colville River unit. The two companies maintain a similar partnership at the Colville River unit.
The state is considering requests from the A. Ronald Nerland and Delores K. Nerland Living Trust 4-26-99 to transfer small royalty interests less than 1 percent in two leases - ADL 364470 and ADL 364471 - at the ConocoPhillips-operated Colville River unit to the Nerland Trust, David E. Nerland, the Nerland Family Trust and Lori Hennessy.
Cook Inlet deals In the Cook Inlet basin, Peter G. Zamarello transferred 50 percent working interest and 43.75 percent royalty interest in ADL 391849 to Paul G. Craig. The offshore lease sits between the N. Trading Bay unit to the south and the Nicolai Creek unit to the north.
ConocoPhillips transferred working and royalty interest in the Beluga River unit to partners Chugach Electric Association Inc. and Municipal Light & Power. The two utilities recently purchased a greater interest in the field from the departing operator. The requested transfer of interests from ADL 17658 remains in the case file at the moment.
—A copyrighted oil and gas lease map from Mapmakers Alaska was a research tool used in preparing this story.
| 