Reserves

The quest to discover new oil and natural gas reserves resulted Wednesday in the most successful lease sale in Alaska, with producers offering a total of $2.7 billion to capture a share of drilling rights in the Chukchi Sea.

The Alaska Gasline Port Authority (AGPA) is asking state officials to reconsider their disqualification of its proposal to tap North Slope gas reserves. In a letter to commissioners of the departments of natural resources and revenue, AGPA Chairman Jim Whitaker describes a pre-application ordeal that can most succinctly be described as Kafkaesque.

The Alaska Gasline Port Authority (AGPA) is asking state officials to reconsider their disqualification of its proposal to tap North Slope gas reserves. In a letter to commissioners of the departments of natural resources and revenue, AGPA Chairman Jim Whitaker describes a pre-application ordeal that can most succinctly be described as Kafkaesque.

The five applicants to build pipeline/liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects to commercialize Alaska’s North Slope gas reserves have submitted additional information to the state that was requested by the project review team, the governor’s office said last Friday.

Calgary-based EnCana Corp.’s decision to build its natural gas reserves in East Texas is unrelated to Alberta’s decision to revise the oil and gas royalty regime, the CEO said last week (see related story). However, EnCana CEO Randy Eresman said the Deep Bossier acquisition may affect the company’s spending plans and lead to possible divestitures in 2008.

Calgary-based EnCana Corp.’s decision to build its natural gas reserves in East Texas is unrelated to Alberta’s decision to revise the oil and gas royalty regime, the CEO said Monday (see related story).

The Walker Ridge in the Lower Tertiary of the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM), which may — or may not — hold vast amounts of oil and natural gas reserves, captured the highest bid for a block in the Minerals Management Service’s (MMS) Central GOM sale last week.

The Walker Ridge in the Lower Tertiary of the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM), which may — or may not — hold vast amounts of oil and natural gas reserves, captured the highest bid for a block in the Minerals Management Service’s (MMS) Central GOM sale on Wednesday.

Alaska’s North Slope has long been a mecca for oil exploration, but the region’s natural gas reserves are getting a long look by several producers as they await a final decision on the long-proposed gas pipeline.