NPR-A unit okayed {Alaska Oil lease}

Petroleum News ^ | Week of February 03, 2008 | Kristen Nelson

[thackney]

BLM director sees first federal unit as initial step in NPR-A development

The U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management has approved its first federal oil and gas unit agreement for leases in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.

The Jan. 30 approval is for Greater Mooses Tooth unit in the Northeast NPR-A planning area, just west of the State of Alaska’s Colville River unit. There are 34 federal leases, totaling 147,456 acres, in the Greater Mooses Tooth unit.

“We are very pleased to sign this unit agreement,” said BLM Alaska State Director Tom Lonnie. “We view this as the first step toward successful development of nationally important energy resources from this petroleum reserve.”

The unit was proposed by ConocoPhillips Alaska, the unit operator, and Anadarko Petroleum which holds an interest in the leases, as it does at the Colville River unit.

The unit area includes all or part of the following leases: AA 081735*; AA 081736*; AA 081742*; AA 081743*; AA 081745*; AA081746*; AA 081777*; AA 081778*; AA 081779*; AA 081780; AA 081781; AA 081782; AA 081784; AA 081785; AA 081788*; AA 081798*; AA 081799; AA 081800; AA 081801; AA 081802; AA 081803; AA 081804; AA 081805; AA 081806; AA 081807; AA 081808; AA 081809; AA 081810; AA 081818*; AA 081819; AA 081820; AA 081821; AA 088123*; and AA 081857*. Leases shown with asterisks will be segregated because they are partially in and partially out of the unit.

Discoveries in area

This area includes the discoveries at Lookout, Moose Tooth, Rendezvous and Spark, as well as Anadarko’s Altamura wells.

Modern discoveries were announced in the Northeast NPR-A beginning in 2001; in 2003, Kevin Meyers, then president of ConocoPhillips Alaska, said the company had signed a memorandum of understanding with BLM for an environmental impact statement for western satellite development, including satellite drilling pads at Spark and Lookout, among the NPR-A discoveries announced in 2001.

BLM said the Greater Mooses Tooth unit area includes portions of the surface estate selected by Kuukpik Corp. and the associated subsurface estate selected by Arctic Slope Regional Corp. under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

BLM said unitization eliminates internal property boundaries, thus permitting “the most efficient and cost-effective means of developing the underlying oil and gas resources. Unitization also minimizes surface-disturbing activities since fewer wells and facilities are needed to produce the reservoir.”

ConocoPhillips was not immediately able to comment.

[thackney]

Mooses Tooth Unit Agreement - National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska
http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/ak/aktest/energy/npra_units.Par.43316.File.dat/greater_mooses_tooth_unit_agreement_npr-a.pdf

National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska Maps
http://www.blm.gov/ak/st/en/prog/energy/oil_gas/npra/npra_maps.html

Formerly known as the Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4, the vast 23 million acre area on Alaska's North Slope has a history of nearly 100 years of petroleum exploration. In 1923, mindful of the land's conceivable petroleum value, President Harding set aside these 23 million acres as an emergency oil supply for the U.S. Navy. In 1976, in accordance with the Naval Petroleum Reserve Production Act, the administration of the reserve was transferred to the Department of the Interior, more specifically the Bureau of Land Management, and was renamed to what is now known as the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A).

The BLM has held four lease sales in the NPR-A (Northeast - 1999 and 2002 and Northwest - 2004 and 2006) and currently administers more than 300 Federal oil and gas leases.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I’m waiting to see how the Chukchi Sea lease turns out.

[RSmithOpt]

Thanks for the post....GOOD!! I say, red tape diminishing to tap the next least expensive areas to help us become less energy dependent.

Cheap, clean energy and cheap safe food are keys to the US economy to allow for retail activity and actually obtaining that American dream and raising a couple of kids. The last on the list that benefits is the gov's tax revenue's.

.Keep 'em busy with good data (whatever your job is/was up there) as to expand our refining capabilities.

I have no problems with the recent record profits of big oil. One of my 401-K mutuals was 15% invested into big oil and that helped offset the other with weighted to financials (it got dumped this past summer).

They deserve their own working capital to reinvest into their livelihoods. In the long run, it helps this country and in turn the global economy. We just need a down turn in the price per barrel as to offset the good possibility of a severe recession. US oil companies were raped under Klintoon. Food will come down if gas and diesel come down to pre-Katrina levels, even if for 6 months.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

The committment of traders shows the big funds have deserted crude in January. There were 94,000 contracts reported in the first week of Jan. 29,000 at the end of Jan. The Stork Report suggests crude might fall into the upper $60s.

[thackney]

There were 94,000 contracts reported in the first week of Jan. 29,000 at the end of Jan.

Interesting, thanks

[RSmithOpt]

Well that should tell us exactly what I've known all along...huge hedge fund speculation has attributed to 30% of the price on the futures with a $90 / average the last 3 months.

My guess is the actual value is in the $55 - $65/brl range which is ample. Will we see it? I do not know. I imagine the huge hedge fund monies will start buying up cheap real estate soon after the Nov elections.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Goldman, etc., are first in, first out.