On Jan. 23 officials from the Alaska Department of Natural Resources talked to the House Resources Committee about the status of oil and gas development and production in Alaska.
(See chart in the online issue PDF)
John Crowther, DNR commissioner designee, commented on the significant activity that is happening on the North Slope, including exploration projects being conducted in various areas, field development activities and, for the first time in many years, new oilfields that are about to come online. There is also significant activity being conducted in the Cook Inlet basin. But, although this activity is very positive and important for energy supplies in Southcentral Alaska, there are challenges regarding long-term supplies, Crowther said.
19.2 billion barrels produced
Derek Nottingham, director of Alaska's Division of Oil and Gas, told the committee that after nearly 50 years of operation about 19.2 billion barrels of oil have been produced from North Slope oilfields. And the Prudhoe Bay field has dominated the production figures with 14.2 billion barrels from that field alone, Nottingham said.
"Prudhoe Bay is a field like no other field. There's probably not another one like it in the world," Nottingham said. "It's probably a one in a million kind of find, with the size of oil resource, the type of rock, the drive mechanism, those kinds of things."
The Kuparuk River field, with almost 3 billion barrels of production over the same timeframe is also a world class field, with a very high recovery factor and much activity, Nottingham said.
Then, with additional field developments, there are some other major oil producers such as the Colville River field, he added. Nottingham also commented that after a steep decline in production until around 2006 to 2010 from those early fields, production stabilized at around 400,000 to 600,000 barrels per day thanks to an active program of development drilling, infill drilling and other activities.
New developments
However, with the major fields now becoming mature following 40 or 50 years of production, it has become important to have new fields and new developments on the Slope, Crowther commented. And, with new fields scheduled to come online, there is a 20% to 30% increase in production anticipated in the next 10 years.
"So that is truly unprecedented in our entire history," Crowther said.
Nottingham said that phase one of Santos Ltd.'s new Pikka oilfield is expected to come online at the end of March or in early April. Largely as a consequence of this, DNR expects North Slope oil production to increase from around 465,000 barrels per day in fiscal year 2026 to nearly 520,000 barrels per day in fiscal year 2027. Then the agency anticipates ConocoPhillips' new Willow field to also come online in 2029, adding a significant number of barrels to the North Slope oil production. A peak production rate of 180,000 barrels per day is anticipated from Willow, Nottingham said.
There will likely be a pause before the initiation of phase two of the Pikka development, while Santos evaluates the results from the phase one development, Nottingham commented.
Milne Point success
Nottingham also commented on the success that Hilcorp Alaska has seen in boosting production from the Milne Point field. He said that Hilcorp has increased production of the more viscous oil in the Schrader Bluff formation through the use of polymer injection and the use of closely spaced, horizontal production and injection wells.
He also commented that Hilcorp recently acquired the Nikaitchuq and Oooguruk fields from Eni U.S. Operating Co. and that those fields have reservoirs and oil similar to the Milne Point field.
Potential developments
Nottingham commented on some other potential developments that could increase North Slope oil production, including the Colville River CD8 project and the Prudhoe Bay Taiga project.
And, in terms of potential future development, ConocoPhillips has planned a significant exploration program in the NPR-A, including the drilling of four exploration wells and conducting seismic surveying. Some environmental organizations have challenged the Bureau of Land Management approval of this program.
Successful lease sale
Nottingham commented on the results of the fall 2025 North Slope oil and gas lease sale.
"It was one of the best that we've had in quite a while," he said. DNR has indicated that the 287 tracts covering 519,000 acres purchased in the sale were the highest number of tracts and total acreage since a 2014 lease sale.
Nottingham attributed the lease sale success to the successful development of oil resources in Brookian plays, as characterized by the Pikka field.
"The oil resources here on the North Slope are immense," he said. "There could be quite a bit more to go out there and explore for and develop."
Nottingham also commented on potential upcoming lease sales for federal land in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will be conducting a lease sale in the federal waters of the Cook Inlet on March 4, he added. He also commented that, as much as possible, Alaska is trying to coordinate its lease sales with the timing of the federal lease sales.
Gas production?
In response to a question about the possible impact of future North Slope gas production on oil production, Crowther commented that gas pressurization in the field reservoirs is very important in ultimate oil production. So, it is important to manage the gas offtake in the context of overall field reservoir pressures. The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has been carefully assessing this issue, he said. And gas production from a field has the potential to significantly extend field life, he added.
Asked about Harvest Alaska's new liquefied natural gas plant on the North Slope, for supplying LNG to Fairbanks, as an alternative to the use of Cook Inlet gas, Crowther commented that monetizing a small amount of North Slope gas is a positive development that will also help lower the pressure on meeting Southcentral gas demand from the Cook Inlet basin.
Low CO2 gas
Nottingham said that phase one of Glenfarne Alaska's plan for the construction of a gas pipeline from the North Slope to Southcentral Alaska would require gas with a relatively low carbon dioxide content. He said that suitable gas might possibly be obtained from the Northstar unit or the Point Thompson field. The Point Thomson field has 6 trillion cubic feet to 10 trillion cubic feet of available natural gas with a fairly low carbon dioxide content. Representative Dan Saddler commented that he had heard that Glenfarne was envisaging the possibility of a spur pipeline to Point Thomson as part of phase one of the pipeline project.
There was also a brief discussion with committee members regarding the potential for the delivery of natural gas with a low carbon dioxide content from a field that Great Bear Pantheon is planning to develop close to the North Slope Haul Road. Crowther commented that Great Bear Pantheon is still evaluating the nature of the resource in the field and discussing the project with potential product buyers and investors.
Southcentral Alaska
In Southcentral Alaska natural gas from oil and gas fields in the Cook Inlet basin plays a key role in heating buildings and generating electricity, Nottingham said. But there are pending gas shortages that could impact people's homes, lives and businesses, he said.
However, the gas producers have conducted much work in optimizing their drilling programs, focusing on areas where they have seen the most success, Nottingham said. For example, new gas has come online from the Beluga River field, the North Cook Inlet field and the Kitchen Lights field. The state also anticipates some gas to come online from the Cosmopolitan field.
Nottingham said that a total of 22 development wells were drilled in 2025.
A limitation in exploration and development offshore in the Cook Inlet is the fact that there is only one jack-up rig in operation in the inlet. Crowther commented that DNR has been working with the Cook Inlet operators to ensure that the rig is used as much as possible, and to encourage the operators to explore the possibility of bringing a second rig to the inlet.
Anticipated gas shortage
However, despite ongoing developments gas production is anticipated to fall below demand levels in the future.
Gas consumption from the Cook Inlet basin runs at around 70 billion cubic feet per year. Based on the use of current gas wells and ongoing development drilling, supply would start to fall short of demand in 2027. However, using projections of future gas production that include gas assumed to come from new gas developments, gas supplies would not fall below that 70 billion cubic feet per day level until after 2033, with supplies then falling by ever increasing amounts annually after that, according to a graph that DNR presented. And gas delivery could then potentially continue to meet demand through to 2035 as a consequence of the appropriate use of gas storage, the graph indicates. However, Nottingham said that there is an opportunity for North Slope gas to fill that supply shortage, if a North Slope gas pipeline is built.
There was no mention of plans by Southcentral utilities to import liquefied natural gas into Southcentral Alaska to bolster local gas supplies.
