Repsol and Linc get AOGCC permits

The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission issued two drilling permits at the end of January for Repsol E&P USA Inc. to explore its Qugruk prospect on the North Slope.

On Jan. 25, the AOGCC issued a permit for Repsol to drill the Qugruk No. 6 well on ADL 391394. The coastal well would be mostly vertical but move slightly to the north. On Jan. 31, the AOGCC issued a permit for Repsol to drill the Qugruk No. 3 well on ADL 391445. The onshore well is also mostly vertical, but moves slightly to the south.

Repsol is planning a three-well program this winter across the Qugruk prospect. The prospect is in a narrow fairway between the Oooguruk and Colville River units.

The AOGCC also issued a permit Jan. 25 for Linc Energy Operations Inc. to drill Umiat DSP No. 1, a Class II disposal well at the oil field in the Brooks Range foothills.

The company received a corresponding drilling permit Jan. 18 from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the agency that oversees drilling on federal lands.

The well would be on federal lease AA081726. The well is the first in a four-to-six well program Linc is planning at Umiat this winter.

In January, Linc also applied for BLM permits to drill the Umiat No. 16 and Umiat No. 18 wells. Umiat No. 16 would be vertical well on federal lease AA084141 to test an oil-bearing interval in the Lower Grandstand formation. Linc previously described the Umiat No. 18 well as an alternate location it planned to drill this winter if time permitted.

—Eric Lidji