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BLM, Corps issue joint ROD for Conoco’s Greater Mooses Tooth 2
Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
The federal Bureau of Land Management said Oct. 16 that it issued a joint record of decision with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Oct. 15 for ConocoPhillips Alaska’s Greater Mooses Tooth 2 project.
BLM published a final supplementary environmental impact statement for GMT2 in early September, essentially the preferred option in the SEIS is ConocoPhillips’ plan to build a 14-acre drill pad that could hold up to 48 wells, operating as an Alpine satellite.
This is the second National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska development for the company, which announced earlier in October that first production from Greater Mooses Tooth 1 occurred Oct. 5. That was the first production from federal lands in NPR-A.
BLM said ConocoPhillips estimates some 40,000 barrels of oil per day from GMT-2, which BLM said would result in royalties amounting to roughly $2.13 billion, with payments shared among the resource owners.
ConocoPhillips previously said it anticipated rates in the range of 25,000-30,000 bpd from the project, the cost of which the company has pegged at some $1.5 billion.
Discoveries Greater Mooses Tooth develops some of the discoveries, at Spark and Rendezvous, made by ConocoPhillips Alaska predecessor Phillips Alaska in 2000 and 2001 after NPR-A was reopened for exploration in 1999. The company drilled six wells and a sidetrack - five wells and the sidetrack encountered oil or gas and condensate in the Alpine producing horizon. There were two Spark wells, a Moose’s Tooth well, a Lookout well and two Rendezvous wells. The sixth well, which targeted a different horizon, was a dry hole. The company said at the time that it believed the successful wells encountered three separate hydrocarbon accumulations.
The SEIS supplements a 2004 EIS for development of Alpine satellite fields.
Construction this winter The GMT-2 application was submitted by ConocoPhillips Alaska in August 2015. The project includes a 14-acre pad and up to 48 wells, an 8.2-mile road and an 8.6-mile pipeline connecting GMT-2 with GMT-1. BLM said ConocoPhillips anticipates starting construction this winter, with production expected for 30 years, from 2020-50.
BLM Alaska Acting State Director Ted Murphy said the agency is “proud of the collaborative efforts that resulted in this milestone for responsible energy development. The contributions of numerous stakeholders, especially Alaska Native communities, was key to bringing this project to completion.”
BLM said the joint ROD includes supplemental best management practices, in addition to those required by the NPR-A Integrated Activity Plan, such as wildlife protection measures for fleet and aircraft traffic; the establishment of agreements ensuring Native communities have access to roads for subsistence purposes; and monitoring of wildlife populations, habitat and ecosystems that are potentially impacted by development.
Impacts In the final SEIS BLM said impacts of the GMT-2 development, particularly on subsistence resources, have been key issues for consideration. The village of Nuiqsut is relatively close to the development and BLM said potential restrictions in access to subsistence hunting and potential changes in land use by resources such as caribou were concerns.
The agency said GMT-2 will provide substantial economic benefits to Alaska Natives corporations which own a significant portion of the subsurface mineral estate.
- KRISTEN NELSON
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