Monday, August 01, 2011
Alaska Journal of Commerce
by Tim Bradner
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. will test its Chandler No. 1 gas discovery made in 2009 in the foothills region of the southern North Slope, the company said. The company will move equipment to the site for testing later this year when cold weather allows the construction of a snow road, Anadarko spokesman Mark Hanley said.
Anadarko drilled the Chandler well over two winter seasons in 2008 and 2009, but did not conduct a production test, Hanley said. A production test was conducted, however, on another gas exploration well Anadarko drilled at Gubik, about 10 miles north of the Chandler well. Results of that test have not been disclosed, Hanley said.
Gas was first discovered at Gubik in exploration in the 1960s but the deposit was considered too small to be commercial. Anadarko and its partners acquired leases on the prospect and drilled two tests to delineate the old discovery including the one where production testing was done.
Anadarko has been active in exploring in the foothills region for several years but took a two-year hiatus after PetroCanada, who was a partner with Anadarko in the foothills exploration, merged with Suncor Energy in 2009. Suncor remained in the venture along with BG Energy and Anadarko, and has now approved its share of expenses related to the planned testing.
Encana and BP were previous partners with Anadarko in the foothills, but have pulled out.
Geologists consider the foothills of the southern North Slope to be gas-prone, but there is also some oil potential.
"There is gas in this region and almost every well that is drilled finds gas. The question is whether enough can be found to make a gas field," Hanley said.
Land ownership in the region is split between the state of Alaska and Arctic Slope Regional Corp., a private development corporation owned by Inupiat people of the region.
Hanley said Anadarko will build a snow road about 75 miles to the Chandler site from the Dalton Highway, a year-around road that parallels the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. Testing will be done without a drill rig, he said.
Discussions are also underway with Linc Energy, an Australian-based independent, about coordinating winter exploration logistics with that company's plan to do test drilling at Umiat, a small oil field within the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska about 13 miles west of the Chandler discovery.
Linc Energy has said it will be moving a drill rig to Umiat later this year for its drilling but had initially planned to move the rig by air. Umiat has an existing all-weather airstrip.
Copyright (c) 2011, Alaska Journal of Commerce, Anchorage
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