ConocoPhillips profit climbs in 1Q

ConocoPhillips earned $445 million in adjusted earnings from its Alaska operations in first quarter 2018, the company said. The company’s earnings are about four times what they were in first quarter 2017. Oil prices are moving gradually upward and ConocoPhillips has also been able to reduce costs.

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Hilcorp plans four new Inlet wells

Hilcorp Energy still plans to drill four new wells from the Steelhead and Monopod platform in Cook Inlet, the company told us. Plans are also to build

a pad near Anchor Point, the “Seaview” project, to support exploration drilling. The company acquired eight new tracts in the state’s spring Cook Inlet “area- wide” lease sale held May 9, two offshore leases in North Cook Inlet and six further south near Anchor Point and the Ninilchik gas eld. Hilcorp offered up $298,799.76 for the eight parcels, which covered about 16,000 acres.

 

Areawide sales offer all unleased state lands in a region, in this case Cook Inlet. There are about 2.6 million acres of state offshore and onshore Cook Inlet lands were made available in Wednesday’s sale, but only a small portion attracted offers. There are about 500,000 acres now under lease in the Inlet.

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Furie: New Inlet gas production

Furie Operating Alaska is working to further develop its Kitchen Lights gas field in North Cook Inlet. This year the company plans to begin producing from a second well and to do a “workover” on its currently producing well to enhance production. Furie produces gas from a small production platform in the Inlet and sells to utilities in the region.

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State: $700 million new slope work

State revenue commissioner Sheldon Fisher said a new bonding program to pay off $900 million in Alaska accumulated unpaid oil exploration incentive tax credits could result in $700 million in new North Slope exploration and development spending a small explorers resume work on projects.

 

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Studies underway at Umiat in NPR-A

The new owner of federal leases at Umiat, an old oil discovery in the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska, is working with the University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers and others on ways of stimulating production in wells drilled at Umiat. The U.S. Navy drilled wells in the 1950s and in recent years industry has had a go, most recently Linc Energy, but with mixed results. Corri Feige, former state oil and gas director, is working with the group. Umiat’s is shallow and very high quality but source of a reservoir energy for production is lacking. Gas-lift is an option but a source of local gas must be found.

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Another look at Susitna Basin potential

The state oil and gas division issued a Susitna Basin exploration license to two independents, Samuel Cade and Daniel Donkel, on 18,698 acres north of Houston and east of the Parks Highway. The license is for ve years and includes a $750,000 work commitment. This is basically a coal-bed methane play.

The U.S. Geological Survey published an assessment of potential oil and gas resources in the Susitna Basin. The region is considered to be gas prone but with some possibility of oil. The estimate has a high-low range but the mean is 1.6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 2 million barrels of oil. The basin extends from Willow in the southeast to Talkeetna and Petersville, and to areas across the Yentna River to the west.

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Ahtna Inc. is interested in more exploration on its lands and state lands near Glennallen. The corporation drilled a well for gas last year that had encouraging results but was itself not commercial.