Of the eight operators who hoped to drill as many as 34 exploration wells on Alaska's North Slope in 2012, two postponed drilling because they couldn't get rigs, one will start drilling in mid-May because it can drill year-round, four have completed their wells, and one is just about to finish drilling as the winter exploration season in northern Alaska winds down to a close.
Of the 34 wells the eight oil companies had hoped to drill: Six to eight wells might still be drilled this year by Great Bear Petroleum, Repsol drilled two of the 15 wells it had planned, Brooks Range Petroleum drilled one of two planned wells, Savant Alaska is close to finishing its one out of one, Conoco Phillips drilled one out of one.
Pioneer Natural Resources Alaska drilled two out of two and UltraStar Exploration and Linc Energy's wells were canceled until next winter.
If Savant is able to finish its well, a total of seven wells will have been drilled with six to eight more in the works for Great Bear.
If all the wells had been drilled as planned, 2012 would have been the busiest exploration season since 1969, when 33 exploration wells were drilled after the Prudhoe Bay discovery.
Still, 13 to 15 wells for 2012 compares favorably to the single well drilled in winter 2011 by Brooks Range.
The reasons behind the lower-than-expected number of wells drilled included everything from a shortage of rigs or rig crews for UltraStar and Linc to the challenges Repsol faced with getting approval from the North Slope Borough for five ice pads, with three wells each.
It started the season with green light to drill from four pads but with only three rigs running at any one time.
By KAY CASHMAN
Petroleum News