ConocoPhillips expands in Alaska

The company's winter exploration proposal for the Cassin prospect is being reviewed for consistency with the Alaska Coastal Management Program by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources' Office of Project Management and Permitting (OPMP).

The three proposed wildcats are the 1 Cassin, nw nw 27-12n-1w, Umiat Meridian; 2 Cassin, nw se 17-11n-1w, UM; and 3 Cassin, nw se 31-12n-1w, UM. They are on BLM-issued oil and gas leases held jointly by ConocoPhillips and Anadarko Petroleum Co.

The Cassin drillsites are 12 to 16 miles (19 to 26 km) northwest of the ConocoPhillips/Anadarko 2001 discoveries in the NE NPR-A (five wells and a sidetrack)—Spark 1, Spark 1A, Moose's Tooth C, Lookout 1, Rendezvous A and Rendezvous 2. Those discoveries encountered three separate hydrocarbon accumulations in the Alpine sand. The 1-A Spark, 8-10n-2e, yielded oil/condensate at a rate of 1,550 b/d, with 26.5 MMcf/d of gas during tests of the Alpine pay. The Rendezvous-A, 24-10n-1e, recovered oil/condensate at a rate of 360 b/d, with 6.6 MMcf/d of gas, during tests of an unstimulated Alpine interval. The discoveries will be developed as satellites to the Colville River Unit's Alpine field, an approximate 430-million-bbl oil reservoir in the Alpine sand located 15 to 20 miles (24 to 32 km) further to the east.

The Cassin ventures are 8 to 12 miles (13 to 19 km) generally southeast of BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc's A-1 Trailblazer in section 14-12n-3w, and H-1 Trailblazer in section 6-12n-3w, both of which were drilled and plugged in early 2001 with no details being disclosed. They were drilled to respective total depths of 8963 ft and 7850 ft (2,734 and 2,394 m).

ConocoPhillips proposes to drill one or more of the Cassin wells this winter with Kuukpik Drilling's Rig #5. Cassin wellsites would be accessed by ice road(s) across frozen tundra. The company anticipates building about 5 miles (8 km) of ice road to access NPR-A exploratory sites off the main winter trail. Mobilization for ice road and pad construction is slated to begin as soon as conditions allow. The initial Cassin well would be drilled and evaluated between January and May 2007.

The Cassin prospect is one of six exploratory prospects ConocoPhillips has proposed for the 2006-2007 North Slope winter drilling season.

The other five prospects are the Makua, Intrepid, Noatak, Nugget and Spark Downdip.

The Makua prospect is not in the NPR-A. It's in the Colville River Delta area northeast of Alpine field. The Noatak and Nugget prospects were first proposed in mid-2004, but were never drilled. They are in the northeastern NPR-A near the company's Kokoda prospect, which was drilled last winter. The Intrepid prospect is in the northwestern NPR-A south of Barrow. The Spark Downdip prospect is in the northeastern NPR-A southeast of the Spark discovery.