ExxonMobil offers latest development plan for Alaska

Feb. 25, 2008
ExxonMobil Production Co. submitted the latest in a series of development plans for the Point Thomson Unit (PTU) gas-condensate lease on Alaska's North Slope.

Paula Dittrick
Senior Staff Writer

HOUSTON, Feb. 25 -- ExxonMobil Production Co. submitted the latest in a series of development plans for the Point Thomson Unit (PTU) gas-condensate lease on Alaska's North Slope.

Development of the 106,200-acre PTU, east of Prudhoe Bay, is linked with construction of the proposed Alaska natural gas pipeline from ANS to the Lower 48.

ExxonMobil, PTU operator, estimates the high-pressure reservoir has reserves of more than 8 tcf of gas and 200 million bbl of condensate (OGJ, Nov. 26, 2001, Newsletter).

Alaska state documents indicate 25 lessees hold working interest in PTU, covering 45 state oil and gas leases. Lessees include BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., Chevron USA Inc., and ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc.

PTU has no production yet. Lessees have said production hinges upon an Alaska gas pipeline, and the pipeline's future remains uncertain.

PTU development
The PTU development has been under discussion for years. ExxonMobil has submitted numerous plans and modified plans. The latest plan calls for PTU production by yearend 2014.

In 2001 the Alaska Department of Natural Resources approved a development plan calling for PTU production by 2008.

But in October 2005 the DNR Division of Oil and Gas rejected that development plan, placing ExxonMobil in default of its earlier agreement with the state (OGJ, Nov. 6, 2006, p. 32).

The latest plan for the proposed $1.3 billion project would involve a development and delineation drilling program in 2008-09 followed by construction of production facilities and pipelines.

An initial phase calls for production of 200 MMcfd of PTU gas from which 10,000 bbl of liquid condensate would be separated and delivered through oil pipelines. Remaining gas would be reinjected into the reservoir.

ExxonMobil plans to ship produced fluids west through the Badami sales pipeline and then into the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System.

Craig Haymes, ExxonMobil Alaska production manager, said, "A phased development is a prudent approach to maximize the benefits to the state of Alaska and the Point Thomson owners, especially since a gas pipeline is more than a decade away."

Meanwhile, ExxonMobil representatives plan to meet with DNR officials on Mar. 3 in a meeting ordered by an Alaska state Superior Court.

Previously, ExxonMobil offered to pay the state of Alaska $20 million and to relinquish 20,000 acres to resolve unmet PTU development obligations.

Contact Paula Dittrick at [email protected].