State OKs GeoAlaska geothermal permit for southern area of Augustine Island
 Click here to go to the full PDF version of this issue, with any maps, photos or other artwork that appears in
some of the articles.
Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Oil and Gas has issued a final written finding and decision for a noncompetitive geothermal prospecting permit requested by GeoAlaska LLC, owned by Dr. Paul Craig, for South Augustine Island in Cook Inlet.
The June 30 decision by the director of the division, Derek Nottingham, is for 3,048 acres of the onshore portions of three tracts, ranging from 320 to 2,240 acres, on the southern portion of the island. The permit is for 2 years at a rental rate of $3 per acre.
A 2013 decision by the division determined that leasing tracts on and around Augustine Island for geothermal exploration was in the state’s best interest, and a lease sale was held that year, offering 65,992 acres in 26 tracts. One bid was received but no exploration was attempted and the lease from that offering was relinquished in 2014.
The division said it received a proposal from GeoAlaska in April 2021, which triggered a call for public comments and competing proposals. The division received no competing proposals or comments, and then offered the area as a noncompetitive prospecting permit for 2 years at a rental rate of $3 per acre.
A preliminary finding was issued April 28.
Area, potential work The division listed geologic hazards from Augustine Volcano as “lahars, pyroclastic flows, debris avalanches, volcanic blasts, and other volcano-related hazards” and listed geothermal resources as hot water, hot dry steam or hot dry rock. All three, the division said, are indicated by the presence of Augustine Volcano, “although no hot springs are known from Augustine Island.”
Eruptions from the volcano happen at 17.5-year intervals, the division said.
The division said it is not currently known “whether geothermal resource exploration, development, power production, or power transmission will be proposed, and if proposed, what specific location, type, size, extent, and duration would be.”
Initial work could include geological and geophysical surveys and exploration drilling, the division said.
“If a commercially viable geothermal resource is identified, development could include construction of well pads, wells, pipelines, power plant, roads, personnel housing, transportation and maintenance facilities, and a subsea power cable.”
Northwest Mount Spurr This is not GeoAlaska’s first geothermal permit.
In May 2021 the division issued a final finding for a noncompetitive geothermal prospecting permit to GeoAlaska for Northwest Mount Spurr. The division said the Northwest Mount Spurr permit area is some 6,376 acres on the southern flank of Mount Spurr, northwest of Trading Bay and some 40 miles west of Tyonek. The Northwest Mount Spur permit is also for two years.
GeoAlaska Craig formed GeoAlaska in May 2020 to identify and develop geothermal energy resources in Alaska, he told Petroleum News in 2021 (see stories in the May 30, 2021, and June 6, 2021, issues of PN).
He told PN he isn’t switching industries. “For 28 years I have been in the energy industry,” he said.
“GeoAlaska is trying to move Alaska’s energy industry one step forward into the future by creating a source of green electrical energy that has a zero-carbon footprint on the environment,” Craig said in a 2021 interview.
“We are not anti-oil.
“We are not anti-natural gas.
“We are pro-business and pro-energy, but we want to do it in a way that creates a sustainable future for our children and our grandchildren for generations to come.”
|
