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Narwhal applies for land use at Harrison Bay for pre-winter work
Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
Narwhal Exploration LLC, operator of the Narwhal unit at West Harrison Bay, has applied to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources' Division of Oil and Gas for a permit for summer marine surveys and winter off road travel to support a proposed winter 2026 drilling program. The division is accepting comments on the proposal through 4:30 p.m. July 29.
In the July 3 application Narwhal said proposed summer activities would include offshore side scan sonar, sub bottom profiling and sediment sampling studies in West Harrison Bay. The application also describes onshore activities that would occur on federally managed lands in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, activities which the division is not considering, but which Narwhal said it included for the state's information.
Project activities Narwhal said a coastal sea ice trail or a spur from the community winter access trail would provide access to the project area.
Summer 2025 activities are preliminary field activities to support project permitting, planning and engineering for the proposed winter 2026 drilling program.
Work is estimated to begin as early as Aug. 1 with offshore studies, offshore and onshore archaeological clearance, onshore freshwater lake surveys and installation of thermistors and monuments -- projects with estimated completion dates from Aug. 15 to Sept. 30.
Activities pegged to begin in mid-August include optional advance staging of equipment and materials in the West Harrison Bay area on the existing Kogru airstrip or on barges in West Harrison Bay, work which would continue through the end of September.
Two personnel would monitor staged equipment from mid-September through the end of November, supported by weekly helicopter trips. Pre-packing of ice trails and roads would begin Nov. 1 and continue through the end of December.
Summer operations Narwhal said summer operations will include archaeological, historical and cultural resources clearance, with both onshore and offshore areas in the vicinity of West Harrison Bay to be surveyed for cultural and historical resources, with access for this work by helicopter and marine vessel.
Onshore lakes will be investigated for available freshwater to support ice pad and ice road construction, for camp use and for drilling fluid make up.
Narwhal said thermistors may be installed along tundra access routes to monitor soil temperatures during freeze up in October through December, with data to be reviewed in December to confirm soil temperatures will support tundra travel.
Pre-packing will begin Nov. 1 or as soon as conditions allow and last through the end of December.
Offshore studies will begin in August at up to six locations from a single vessel mobilized out of West Dock at Prudhoe or out of Oliktok Point, with periodic resupply, support and personnel transfers from Oliktok Point with one or two additional vessels expected to provide support for in-water work including crew berthing, expediting and resupply.
Optional advance staging Narwhal said it proposes to stage equipment in the open water season in advance of winter drilling including equipment for camp, ice pad and road construction, drilling rig, fuel and other support equipment and materials, allowing expedited beginning of ice construction once sea ice conditions permit, perhaps resulting in drilling beginning up to four weeks earlier.
The advance staging would begin in mid-August and possibly extend through the end of the open-water season.
The company said there are two options for advanced staging, one using the existing gravel Kogru airstrip and the other using anchored barges in Harrison Bay.
In the Kogrum airstrip option, interlocking tundra mats would be placed between the shoreline and the airstrip to avoid tundra disturbance while offloading freight from a barge.
In the anchored barges option, up to eight empty barges and possibly camp and fuel barges would be towed to the location from Canada, lashed to each other in a rectangle arrangement and anchored on the shoreward and open water side.
The caretaker crew will stay in a small skid camp.
Winter drilling The Narwhal unit approval, issued Nov. 1, calls for drilling of two exploration wells to evaluate the Nanushuk formation in 2026, with the possibility, pending ongoing analysis, that one of the wells would be drilled deeper to evaluate the Torok.
Based on results of 2026 drilling, two more wells would be drilled in 2027 and additional 3D seismic acquired as needed.
In 2028 drilling results would be analyzed and preparations made to submit the initial plan of development for the unit.
--KRISTEN NELSON
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