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Step by step, Point Thomson moves closer to production
Kay Cashman
Since its inception in 1977, the owners of the Point Thomson unit have not behaved as unit owners normally do — specifically, they have not worked together in their exploration of the unit nor have they shared information with one another. Two non-operators have even drilled in parts of the unit without the participation of the unit operator or other owners.
In June 1998, with the filing of Exxon’s 15th plan of development, state Division of Oil and Gas Director Ken Boyd told PNA that the situation was beginning to change: “After bouncing the ball back and forth over the net on language, Exxon filed its final 15th plan of development today, June 19 (1998). ... What we have now is these companies acting like a unit. ... It’s a whole different ball game than it’s been for the last 20 years.”
Still, the 15th plan of development represented promises — not definitive action — on the part of the Point Thomson owners.
Boyd, both a proponent of pushing the owners to take a serious look at the economic viability of developing Point Thomson’s oil and gas reserves and an advocate of keeping the state out of what could prove to be a lengthy legal battle with the unit’s owners, was even more optimistic following last month’s unit meeting.
He told PNA Oct. 8, “Exxon, who is the unit operator, finally did it. They traded all the data. ...
“(At the Sept. 20, 1999, meeting) Exxon actually showed me a consensus map of both horizons — the Point Thomson and the shallower Brookian, which are the two main horizons in the unit,” he said.
Boyd explained that the Point Thomson horizon had already been mapped; his satisfaction came from the fact that the owners were “well along with a consensus map of Brookian horizon.” A consensus map is defined by the state as “an effort by all major owners to use the shared technical data and various individual owner interpretations to produce unified (agreed upon), comprehensive interpretations of each reservoir.”
Everyone has a piece of Sourdough Boyd also told PNA that “all the unit owners now own a piece of the Sourdough wells — the wells that are within the boundaries of the Point Thomson unit.”
In March 1997, Point Thomson owners BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. and Chevron USA announced an oil discovery at the Sourdough prospect, which lies in the southeast corner of the Point Thomson unit, adjacent to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The two companies have since drilled Sourdough wells without the participation of the unit operator or other unit owners. The wells were both within the unit and just outside the unit.
The first “real” unit meeting “The other thing we talked about at the meeting was the facilities designs,” said Boyd. “It’s somewhat preliminary but we talked about what it might look like to develop the condensate gas field and the Brookian — and how you co-develop the two. ... They had certainly done a lot of work on how it might look.
“The thing that surprised me most (about the Sept. 20 meeting) was that the owners had actually exchanged all the data. ... I closed the meeting by saying I have been in a lot of unit meetings like this one but never a Point Thomson unit meeting. There was a very different feel to the meeting. You can’t prove it’s going to be economic just because they’re mapping this new horizon but we’re certainly headed in the right direction,” said Boyd.
Boyd has approved a 16th plan of development for Point Thomson (see page A13 for story on the plan). It went into effect Sept. 30, 1999, and continues for one year.
Major owners in the Point Thomson unit located along the western border of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge are Exxon, BP, Chevron, Mobil Oil Corp., Oxy U.S.A. Inc. and Phillips Petroleum Co.
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