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Savant gets approval to drill Badami B1-33 exploration well
Kay Cashman Petroleum News
On Dec. 19, Alaska's Division of Oil and Gas notified Savant Alaska LLC that it has authorized the company to conduct activities on state lands as proposed in Savant's Badami Unit Plan of Operations amendment application dated Oct. 26 for the Badami Main Pad Kennicott B1-33 exploration well to be drilled this winter.
The Badami Main Pad is located approximately 30 miles east of Deadhorse.
The new well will be drilled with the Doyon 19 drilling rig or a similar rig. A 26.6-mile-long ice road, to be authorized separately, will be constructed from the Endicott/Duck Island Unit Road to the Badami Main Pad.
A temporary 50-man camp will be placed on the pad to support operations. All infrastructure, other than the well and associated components, will be temporary and removed via the ice road after the project is completed.
The surface hole will be located on ADL 365533 and the bottom hole will be located on ADL 367011.
Drilling activities are anticipated to start Jan. 20 and end by April 25.
Plan activities include the following:
--Transport temporary camp, drilling rig, and equipment via ice road.
--Install temporary man camp.
--Drill the exploration well.
--Install associated infrastructure.
Who's who Savant is a Glacier Oil and Gas company.
In early January 2023, Glacier, with operations on the North Slope and in Cook Inlet, announced it had been purchased by Pontem Energy and Sweat Equity Partners.
The sale gave those two companies 100% working interest in the Cook Inlet Energy LLC-operated West McArthur River unit, Redoubt unit, and associated Kustatan Production Facility in Cook Inlet and the Savant-operated Badami unit on the eastern North Slope.
"We are excited by the opportunities that lie ahead for Glacier, its employees, and its new financial backers, Pontem and SEP," Glacier President Stephen Ratcliff said in a statement at the time. "Over the last couple years, we have remained committed to building Glacier during the pandemic while working diligently on production enhancement operations, plans for drilling additional wells, evaluating capital enhancement options, and better alignment through vested ownership. We are excited that this acquisition aligns our vision of growth through development drilling and increased production, maintains our strong corporate culture and our team, and provides an avenue to develop the Glacier brand as a sustainable and long-term player in Alaska."
Continued growth Savant's Badami unit averaged 939 barrels of oil per day in October, up 36 bpd, 4%, from a September average of 903 bpd and up 81.7% from an October 2022 average of 517 bpd.
In the state of Alaska's fall 2023 lease sales Savant bid on three tracts and took two, paying $233,113.60 for 5,120 acres, with one tract adjacent to Badami on the northwest corner of the unit and the other tract adjacent to the first on the west.
Agency review The division provided a review and comment opportunity for the activities considered for the authorization under its Dec. 19 decision.
The following government entities were notified on Nov. 6 for comment on the Plan: U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Alaska Department of Natural Resources: Divisions of Mining, Land & Water and the North Slope Borough.
The comment deadline was 4:30 p.m. Alaska time on Nov. 20.
The approval signifies only that the State of Alaska has no objection to the operations outlined in the plan amendment application. It does not constitute certification of any property right or land status claimed by the applicant nor does it relieve the applicant of responsibility to obtain approvals or permits from other persons or governmental agencies that may also be required.
All stipulations contained in the original lease and subsequent plan approvals remain in full force and effect.
If activities have not commenced, this approval expires on Dec. 19, 2026.
--KAY CASHMAN
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