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Forest Oil focuses on growth in Cook Inlet oil production After Redoubt comes on line at the end of this year, the independent will become the inlet’s largest oil producer; looking to drill eight prospects Kay Cashman PNA Publisher
While some of the big oil companies have been laying off personnel in Alaska, there is an independent oil company that has been steadily increasing staff, increasing production and increasing the number of prospects it plans to develop.
Forest Oil Corp. currently has 27 employees in Alaska.
“We’re growing by one or two positions every few months,” Gary Carlson, senior vice president, Alaska business unit, told PNA in late May.
“Over the next six months we’re going to be hiring field people to operate Redoubt. We will take some and integrate with our West McArthur River unit. I would envision another 10-12 employees, with one or two of those in our Anchorage office.”
Redoubt Shoal, a new offshore oil field under development by Forest in northern Cook Inlet, has recoverable reserves of approximately 100 million barrels of oil, Carlson said, although state of Alaska officials have put the number closer to 200 million barrels. Redoubt’s Osprey platform was the first platform to be set in Cook Inlet since 1986. Headed for 25,000 bpd The company’s net production from Cook Inlet is 10,000 barrels a day. Shortly after Redoubt comes on line at the end of this year, Forest expects its total Alaska production to climb to 20,000-25,000 barrels a day, Carlson said, which will represent 30 percent of the Denver-based independent’s total worldwide production.
Redoubt production will also make Forest the biggest oil producer in Cook Inlet. Second runner up, Unocal Corp., produces about 13,000 barrels per day from the inlet.
“We hope to eventually get up to 25,000 barrels a day with Redoubt, but how our other plays hold up is part of this equation. We have had some success recently in the Trading Bay unit,” Carlson said.
In July, Forest’s partner Unocal said the K-13 well at the King Salmon platform in McArthur River field (in the Trading Bay unit) was producing at 7,100 barrels a day, the highest rate of any well in Cook Inlet history.
In January, the well was still producing at 5,900 barrels a day. That well confirmed a structure in the Hemlock formation on the northern flank of the field that Unocal said could contain more than 35 million barrels of oil in place.
A follow up well in the same fault block is expected to produce 3,200 barrels a day Forest said in its first quarter financial results. Eight hot prospects Robert S. Boswell, Forest’s chairman of the board and CEO, told shareholders in a March 12 letter that his company has “eight high potential drilling prospects generated by Forest that are expected to commence drilling in 2003” in Cook Inlet.
“Our Alaska business unit continues to be a highlight in our corporate portfolio,” Boswell said. “The Alaska business unit will “dominate our capital activity in 2002.” Looking for partners Forest is looking for 50 percent partners for six of the eight prospects, five of which Carlson said are “drillable” and all are “low risk exploratory plays.” Some of the prospects, he said, might not be drilled until 2004.
The eight prospects are: Corsair, Raptor, Tutna, Valkyrie, Viggen, Olsen Creek, Sabre and Kokanee. Of those, Olsen Creek is not yet drillable, Carlson said.
Forest is already partnered with Unocal on Sabre and Kokanee.
Corsair, 100 percent owned by Forest, has estimated original oil in place of 243 million barrels and 193 billion cubic feet of gas.
Raptor, 100 percent owned by Forest, has estimated OOIP of 221 million barrels and 178 billion cubic feet of gas.
Tutna, strictly a gas play and also 100 percent owned by Forest, has estimated 36 billion cubic feet of gas in place.
Valkyrie, 100 percent owned by Forest, has estimated OOIP of 49 million barrels and 175 billion cubic feet of gas.
More information on these plays can be found on Forest’s web page at www.forestoil.com/
Aside from the locations on the map within this story, Forest had no information it was willing to make public on Viggen and Olsen Creek at this time. No plans – yet – for second platform In response to rumors that Forest is looking at a second platform for its Redoubt field, Carlson said it’s premature to be talking about a second platform.
“We need to get these wells online and see how they perform. We have more field definition work to do. But a second platform is something we’d like to need,” he said.
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