Lagniappe permit approved for Sockeye-2 eastern NS exploration

Kay Cashman

Petroleum News

On Jan. 7 the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission approved a drilling permit for Lagniappe Alaska's Sockeye-2 exploratory well on the eastern North Slope. Because the well is deemed confidential there was no additional information available.

But as reported in early December by Petroleum News, Bill Armstrong's Lagniappe Alaska LLC is returning to the eastern North Slope this winter to drill the Sockeye-2 well on state of Alaska acreage approximately 8 miles southeast of Badami, within the Lagniappe-operated oil and gas lease block.

The Sockeye-2 well surface location is approximately 1,000 feet north of the Sockeye-1 well, drilled in the winter season of 2023-24 as part of the Lagniappe Exploration Program in a search for Pikka lookalikes east of Prudhoe Bay. The wells each targeted large 3D-defined opportunities.

The program called for drilling a total of six wells using three rigs drilling simultaneously over a period of 2 years with a maximum of three exploration wells per season. But because of record bad weather on the North Slope none of the wells were able to be completed and tested.

The record bad weather included unusually warm temperatures, then really windy weather, followed by more wind, snow and below normal temps.

Sockeye-2, like Sockeye-1, will be drilled using the Doyon 141 rig.

--KAY CASHMAN