Conoco deferring Kuparuk seismic this year; deemed Slope too crowded

ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. has delayed a 3-D seismic program in the Oliktok Point region this winter because the region is crowded with activity, according to the company.

The company filed permitting paperwork in October 2014 to conduct a 3-D seismic survey over some 103 square miles of the northern end of the Kuparuk River unit, including portions of the neighboring Milne Point, Oooguruk and Nikaitchuq units.

The state began accepting public comments on the proposed survey in early February 2015, as reported in the Feb. 22 edition of Petroleum News. Toward the end of 2014, though, ConocoPhillips decided to postpone this project for the coming year, the company told Petroleum News by email on Feb. 20, after the issue appeared online.

With other companies also working on projects in the Oliktok Point region this winter - including Caelus Energy Alaska LLC’s activities associated with the Oooguruk unit and its Nuna satellite - ConocoPhillips felt it might be unable to conduct a quality survey this winter, ConocoPhillips Alaska spokeswoman Natalie Lowman told Petroleum News.

The company intends to consider the project again in an upcoming budget cycle.

ConocoPhillips often files permitting paperwork before it sanctions drilling or seismic activities in order to be able to move quickly should it decide to pursue a project.

That the delay is the result of a crowded North Slope should be a relief to those worried about the impact of depressed oil prices on development activities in northern Alaska.

In late 2014, ConocoPhillips approved a budget that cut global spending by some 20 percent over the previous year. Earlier this year, ConocoPhillips decided to slow the pace of investment on the Greater Mooses Tooth 1 project in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. “We are deferring the final investment decision for GMT1,” ConocoPhillips Alaska President Trond-Erik Johansen said in a statement. “The project is challenged by permitting delays and requirements, as well as the current oil price development. In 2015, we will continue to shoot seismic over the GMT1 area and progress engineering.”

That said, ConocoPhillips approved and is continuing to pursue a large portfolio of projects in Alaska this year, including the finishing touches for the CD-5 satellite of the Alpine field and the Drill Site 2S project at Kuparuk, the first phase of the North East West Sak development at Kuparuk, expanded development drilling at the Alpine and Kuparuk fields and construction of a new rotary rig and a new coiled tubing rig.

- Eric Lidji