By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Mar. 22 -- Independent oil and gas executives are forming a joint venture that may spend $46.9 million in 2006-09 exploring for oil on extensive portions of Alaska's North Slope.
The joint venture, to be formed by the end of March, holds interests in 167,000 acres and plans to drill at least four wells under the proposed budget. The planned outlay includes well costs and the cost of land, seismic, prospect generation, administrative, and geological and geophysical costs.
The properties can be grouped into a number of distinct play areas including: Gwydyr Bay, Itkillik, Ocean Point, Slugger, Southland, Titania, and Whiskey Gulch. Gwydyr is just north of and Slugger is east of Prudhoe Bay field, and the others are near Alpine, Nanuk, Tarn, and Meltwater fields.
The play areas have been assembled since 1999, are prospective for oil, have existing 2D leads or 3D drilling prospects, and are near infrastructure. The North Slope has many prospects in the 20-200 million bbl range, the companies said.
Joint venture operator is Brooks Range Petroleum Corp., a subsidiary of Alaska Venture Capital Group LLC. Owners of AVCG are eight Kansas independent oil and gas company executives and AVCG's managing director, former ARCO Alaska Pres. Ken Thompson. John J. "Bo" Darrah Jr. is chairman and president of BRPC.
TG World Energy Corp., Calgary independent exploring the Tenere rift in eastern Niger, is to pay $17 million to share interests in the BRPC acreage and may elect to participate as desired in each part of the program.
The parties also formed an alliance to explore a large designated area that contains all other state-governed oil and gas leases on and off the North Slope between the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in which BRPC has no lease ownership.
