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Eni looking to expand in Alaska,
Go APE with Alaska Prospect Expo,
Wilson takes Crane on ANS tour
Although Eni US Operating has not yet announced results from its offshore North Slope exploration well, the company’s CEO Claudio Descalzi said at a recent 2018-21 strategy meeting that the company is “doing well” in Alaska and has plans for “increased investment” in the state.
The Italian mega-major holds interests in 107 leases in northern Alaska, 75 in the federal offshore waters of the Beaufort Sea and Chukchi Sea, and 32 in state onshore leases. The company operates and has a 100 percent interest in one producing oil field, Nikaitchuq, and is a 30 percent owner in the adjacent Caelus-operated Oooguruk field.
Nikaitchuq started production in January 2011 and is currently producing about 14,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Eni officials hope to nearly double that with output from Nikaitchuq North, although they are careful to say this winter’s exploration well is a wildcat.
Eni started drilling its 35,000-foot extended reach Nikaitchuq North 1 exploration well in late December. The Nikaitchuq North prospect lies immediately north of the state leases in the Nikaitchuq field, offshore the central North Slope and west of Prudhoe Bay.
The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission drilling permit says the directional well heads north from Eni’s Spy Island drill site and involves four state leases - ADL 388571, ADL 388574, ADL 388583 and ADL 391283 - plus Harrison Bay Block 6423 that lies in the Beaufort Sea federal outer continental shelf and is 50 percent owned by Shell.
Well results will determine whether Eni proceeds with a sidetrack this winter and a second well next winter.
Go APE! with Alaska Prospect Expo Starting in May, Petroleum News will carry a classifieds section once a month called Alaska Prospect Expo, or APE, designed to interest the newspaper’s subscribers, who include buyers and investors for mineral rights/leases and exploration and development prospects in Alaska.
Since its formation, the Anchorage-based weekly newspaper has targeted public and private investors and oil companies all over the world with an expressed interest in Alaska’s oil and gas potential.
Petroleum News, which has a booth at NAPE every winter, has seen an increase in investor subscribers in the last two years.
Some have signed up because of Armstrong’s big western North Slope discoveries, followed by those of ConocoPhillips in the same area; others subscribed because of the re-opening of ANWR; and still others were attracted to the high price of natural gas produced in the Cook Inlet basin, as well as the low lease and rental rates charged by the state for upper and lower Cook Inlet.
NAPE is the international oil and gas industry’s marketplace for the buying, selling and trading of prospects and producing properties. The NAPE winter summit, which is held in Houston, brings together industry decision-makers, focusing on prospect generators, and hosts companies of all sizes, from small independents to majors.
The APE classifieds in Petroleum News will carry only Alaska properties.
Special thanks to Jim Winegarner who suggested the title of the section, pointing out its catchy abbreviation, APE.
Susan Crane gets first tour of North Slope Thanks to Magtec Alaska’s Roger Wilson, Petroleum News’ advertising director Susan Crane got her first tour of the North Slope in late March.
Susan began selling advertising for the Anchorage-based oil and gas weekly newspaper on Sept. 11, 2001, and for the next 17 years saw the Slope through the eyes of others who wrote and took photos for Petroleum News.
So when Roger offered to take her on a road trip from Prudhoe Bay to the eastern border of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, or NPR-A, Susan hopped on a plane.
Once on the North Slope, Roger took over as her escort, securing a room for her at Magtec’s camp at Deadhorse.
The weather was sunny and cold, but never dropped below minus 15 degrees Fahrenheit. “It was beautiful in its own way - flat as a pancake. I could see the Brooks Range off in the distance,” Susan said.
“We went in Roger’s truck to Pump Station 1 of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, sometimes driving through and other times driving by, oil field units, including Prudhoe Bay, Kuparuk, Oooguruk, Nikaitchuq, Pikka and Alpine, going up to NPR-A’s border before we ran out of time,” she said.
Deadhorse was a real surprise: “It can best be described by what it’s not. A community of several thousand people, it has no homes, no movie theaters and no restaurants.”
Wildlife was scarce - two caribou and an Arctic fox - although she did see at least one sign warning about brown bears.
“The thing that really impressed me was all the safety and environmental precautions - things we never see down here in Anchorage. First, there were safety signs everywhere; way more than you see here.”
“… One minor example was getting food at Magtec and Eni’s camps - you have to put on protective gloves to go through the lines. And going into buildings you have to put blue booties on over your boots, like the ones you see in hospitals.”
What she especially enjoyed was the great food.
“If I worked up there I would definitely gain weight. The food was very good and there was an amazing selection. … The salad bars were fabulous, not to mention the variety of desserts.”
And she and Roger stocked up on snacks from the Magtec camp’s large snack bar every time they left.
“There was everything you could think of - sandwiches, soups, chips, apples, hot dogs, nachos, donuts, cookies, ice cream, bottled water and other beverages, and they’re available 24 hours a day.”
All in all, Susan said photos “do not do the North Slope justice.”
- KAY CASHMAN
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