Commission told Phillips is on track at Cosmopolitan

Kristen Nelson

The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission held a hearing April 16 on Phillips Alaska Inc.’s Starichkof field plan, submitted Feb. 25.

Six Cook Inlet fields discovered before Jan. 1, 1988, and undeveloped or shut in from at least Jan. 1, 1988, through Dec. 31, 1997, are eligible for 5 percent royalties on the first 25 million barrels of oil and the first 35 billion cubic feet of gas if production for sale begins before Jan. 1, 2004, and the commission approves a written plan, containing “a voluntary agreement by the lessee to use its best efforts to employ residents of the state, consistent with law, and to contract with firms in this state for work in connection with the development of the field, including the fabrication and installation of required facilities, whenever feasible”

Phillips’ plan shows production from the field to begin in the fourth quarter of 2003.

Patrick Noah, land consultant with Phillips Alaska, told the commission that the company was on schedule as identified in its plan.

For the second quarter of 2002 Phillips’ plan includes evaluating information from the Hansen No. 1 well which the company drilled beginning in October, and which reached total depth in January.

Second quarter plans include evaluation of well information and formulation of either a development plan or a plan to conduct additional seismic operations.

In response to a question from Commissioner Dan Seamount, Noah said Phillips was still evaluating well data and was not planning additional seismic operations.

Noah said the company’s next decision point was this fall, and that would be a decision on what form development would take. He said the company was on track with the schedule presented to the commission, and that nothing had occurred that would cause Phillips to cancel development at the prospect.