Apache Corp. is slowing its Cook Inlet exploration plans following disappointing well results, but remains “very positive” about the region, according to CEO Steve Farris.
“Frankly, we were disappointed in the well results that we had there,” Farris said during the question and answer portion of an earnings call for investors on Aug. 1. “We drilled the well and actually got too close to a fault, so we really didn’t evaluate that well.”
Apache spud the Kaldachabuna No. 2 well on the west side of Cook Inlet in mid-November, targeting a 1980 Simasko Production Co. discovery. Apache had hoped to use well stimulation techniques to test the possibility of producing oil from the relatively low-permeability rock in the region, but found the drilling to be very challenging, Apache Alaska General Manager John Hendrix said in February. The 11,389-foot well penetrated more than 100 coal seams, including 24 seams exceeding 10 feet in thickness, he said.
Apache suspended — rather than plugged and abandoned — Kaldachabuna No. 2 in April, according to Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission information.
Apache is preparing to continue its major 3-D seismic campaign across the region, Farris said, but other plans may wait. “I am personally still very positive about the Cook Inlet,” he said. “Obviously we’re directing cash to different things right now. So, we’ve slowed down that activity but in terms of its prospectivity, I still think it has good value.”
Apache declined to elaborate on the comments.
—Eric Lidji
