The Minerals Management Service has issued the final notice of sale for Beaufort Sea OCS Lease Sale 186 scheduled for Sept. 24. The final notice describes the sale area and environmental protection requirements. The entire sale area will be offered, with the exception of two deferral areas encompassing 26 blocks off Barrow and 28 blocks off Kaktovik used for subsistence whaling by certain communities. The sale area extends from the Canadian border on the east to near Barrow on the west and includes 1,794 whole or partial blocks that encompass about 9.4 million acres offshore Alaska’s northern coast in the Beaufort Sea. The final notice suspends royalties on certain volumes of oil and condensate production, subject to price thresholds, and restructures the minimum bid and rental rates to be more comparable with state and other federal North Slope oil and gas leasing terms. A final notice of sale may be requested from akwebmaster@mms.gov or by calling 1-800-764-2627.
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Industry Briefs
Continuing with its plan to increase domestic production, Noble Energy Inc. said Monday that the Louisiana State Lease 340 No. 1 (Mound Point Prospect) has been drilled and evaluated to a measured depth of 19,024 feet. The company noted that evaluation of the logs and cores indicate that there are three middle Miocene aged sands with a total of 111 feet of net natural gas pay. Houston-based Noble Energy and its partners said they plan to complete the Mound Point Prospect well with production expected to come on early in the fourth quarter. Noble Energy holds a 24.98% working interest in the prospect. El Paso Production Co. is the operator with a 31.98% working interest, while ChevronTexaco Corp. has a 42.98% working interest. The remaining private partner owns 0.056%. Noble Energy also reported that it has recently spudded another deep shelf prospect in the Gulf of Mexico, Eugene Island 317. Eugene Island 317 is designed to drill to a total depth of 18,500 feet. Noble Energy is the operator with a 66.67% working interest with Spinnaker Exploration Company holding the remaining 33.3% stake. Although Noble Energy’s first quarter 2003 production volumes declined by 1% to 101,235 boe/d when compared to 1Q2002’s volume of 102,416 boe/d, the company’s 1Q2003 production was higher than that of 4Q2002, with overall volumes increasing more than 4% from 96,898 boe/d (see Daily GPI, May 1).
S&P Lifts CreditWatch on Dynegy
Based on the successful completion of two revolving bank loans and a third bank loan for its communications operating lease, the credit ratings of Dynegy Inc. and its subsidiaries were removed from CreditWatch by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) on Wednesday.
Bush Administration Snubs CA on Offshore Lease Issue
Interior Secretary Gale Norton told California earlier this month that the federal government will not buy back offshore oil/gas leases along the state’s coast as it had done recently for Florida, noting that the two states’ circumstances are markedly different. In a letter to state officials, Norton said Florida has opposed offshore drilling; California has not, an interpretation that drew immediate criticism from top state officials and environmental organizations.
Senators Propose Lease Swap to End CA, Producer Dispute
Two U.S. senators have offered a bill that they hope will put an end to the bitter dispute over offshore drilling between the state of California and oil and natural gas producers who hold the remaining 40 leases off the state’s coast.
Second Lease Sale Held in Yukon
About 104 square miles of virgin natural gas hunting grounds arebeing thrown open within reach of potential routes for the proposedAlaska pipeline by the Yukon Territory’s second sale in two years.Companies are being given until March 14 to bid on the parcel,which borders on two areas that Anderson Exploration Ltd. scoopedup in the first sale, which was in turn the first one held by theYukon in two decades.
Second Lease Sale Held in Yukon Territory
About 104 square miles of virgin natural gas hunting grounds arebeing thrown open within reach of potential routes for the proposedAlaska pipeline by the Yukon Territory’s second sale in two years.Companies are being given until March 14 to bid on the parcel,which borders on two areas that Anderson Exploration Ltd. scoopedup in the first sale, which was in turn the first one held by theYukon in two decades.
AEC Shopping for U.S. Gas Storage Facility
Alberta Energy Co. Ltd. wants to buy or lease another U.S. natural gas storage facility, but is remaining mum on what region it is targeting and which companies it may be negotiating with. CEO Gwyn Morgan would only say last week that his company is negotiating to buy a storage unit for less than C$100 million, and hopes to complete the deal before year’s end.
AEC Buying U.S. Gas Storage Facility
Alberta Energy Co. Ltd. wants to buy or lease another U.S.natural gas storage facility, but is remaining mum on what regionit is targeting and which companies it may be negotiating with. CEOGwyn Morgan would only say last week that his company isnegotiating to buy a storage unit for less than C$100 million, andhopes to complete the deal before year’s end.
Gulf Sale Results Improve With Prices
Results from yesterday’s Central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 175were buoyed by strong commodity prices. This year’s sale activitydwarfed that of last year’s Central Sale 172 by about 60%,according to the Minerals Management Service’s Gulf of Mexicooffice. High bids received at the sale totaled nearly $300.57million compared to $171.62 million in high bids last year.
