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GeoAlaska step closer
South Augustine second exploration plan approved, Nevada MT crew starting
Kay Cashman Petroleum News
On June 13, GeoAlaska CEO and majority owner Paul Craig was issued a letter of approval from Alaska's Division of Oil and Gas for the second Plan of Exploration, or POE, for noncompetitive geothermal prospecting permits ADL 394080 and ADL 394174 on South Augustine Island.
Augustine Island is in Kamishak Bay on the west side of Lower Cook Inlet, approximately 68 miles southwest of Homer and approximately 170 miles south-southwest of Anchorage.
How important was this approval?
Craig told Petroleum News that it "is very important" to GeoAlaska.
"On June 24 ... the MT crew from Nevada will be traveling by landing craft from Homer to Augustine Island where they will begin collecting more advanced magnetotelluric (MT) data over the south half of the Island. They will also collect an arc of data around the north side of the mountain to assist with imaging he shallow magma chamber's depth and location. The impending MT data collection will focus heavily on the sweet spot identified using AMT (audio-magnetotelluric) data collected in 2023," he said.
"The 2024 MT campaign will allow GeoAlaska to look across more acreage, and into deeper zones so we can perform some volumetric analyses on one or more isostructures evidencing the MT signature for hydrothermal fluids under the permit area."
Craig said, "the approval of the POE allows GeoAlaska to move one major step closer to making green, sustainable, reasonably priced, baseload power available to the Railbelt Grid."
History with division The June 13 approval from Division of Oil and Gas Director Derek Nottingham laid out the history of the permits with the division, which is part of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources.
He said GeoAlaska was awarded ADL 394080 with an effective date of Sept. 1, 2022. On June 8, 2023, the division received the initial proposed POE for ADL 394080. That first POE described plans for gravity and magnetotelluric surveys in the summer of 2023 to gather data that would help develop a model of the geothermal resource on the island.
The division approved the first POE on June 13, 2023, requiring GeoAlaska submit a new POE before carrying out additional exploration beyond what was described in the first POE.
GeoAlaska completed their survey work as described in the initial POE.
The company's proposed second POE includes exploration activities on both ADL 394080 and on noncompetitive geothermal prospecting permit ADL 394174, which was effectively awarded to GeoAlaska April 1, 2024.
Nottingham said that GeoAlaska planned to perform a magnetotelluric survey in the summer of 2024, which would supplement the data collected in the summer of 2023 to further refine the assessment of geothermal resource potential on the island and define the location of the magma chamber.
Following analysis and interpretation of this data, Nottingham said, GeoAlaska would design their plans for future exploration of the area, including an exploratory well in the summer of 2025, to verify their working model of the resource.
"When considering a POE ... the division must consider the requirements in 11 AAC 84.755. Per 11 AAC 84.755(b), a detailed description of plans for drilling of exploratory wells is a required element of a POE. In approving GeoAlaska's first POE for ADL 394080," the division deferred the requirement with the mandate that GeoAlaska submit this information in its second POE, Nottingham said.
"GeoAlaska's current submittal addresses plans for drilling; however, all the specific requirements outlined in 11 AAC 84.755(b)(2) are not included in this POE. With the understanding that specific details related to future drilling plans for wells are dependent upon the results from prior phases of exploration, and that GeoAlaska completed their planned surveys as outlined in the first POE and is pursuing the collection of additional survey data in 2024 to help refine future plans, the division" deferred this requirement until results from the 2024 surveys have been analyzed.
The division said GeoAlaska must submit a new POE prior to any exploration program in 2025. In that update, a detailed description of the types of exploratory wells planned, the drilling methods to be used, the drilling sequence to be followed, proposed safety measures, drill site and bottom hole locations, and depths of proposed wells is requested.
Based upon the contents of the POE submitted to the division on June 6, the requirements of 11 AAC 84.755 and the terms of ADL 394080 and ADL 394174, the division "finds it in the best interest of the State of Alaska to approve GeoAlaska's second POE for ADL 394080 and ADL 394174," Nottingham said.
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