Cook Inlet Ripe for Oil and Gas Exploration and Production.

• Author: WILLIAMS, COLLEEN MADONNA FLOOD
• Position: Statistical Data Included

Cook Inlet oil and gas production is going full barrel. Phillips Alaska Inc. reports that its Cook Inlet average daily production is about 166,000 cubic feet of gas per day. Forest Oil Corp.'s net for Cook Inlet averages around 8,400 barrels of oil a day. XTO Energy Inc.'s (formerly Cross Timbers Oil Co.) daily net is estimated at 4,400 barrels of oil a day.

Marathon Oil Co. is so confident in the ongoing potential for Cook Inlet that it has purchased its own drilling rig. Its recent Wolf Lake discovery, located 10 miles north of Sterling on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, uncovered enough natural gas to merit development. The site is slated to begin production this fall, following installation of production facilities. Marathon anticipates gas production at an approximate rate of 10 million cubic feet per day at start-up. Marathon also has discovered new gas reservoirs in its Sterling and Cannery Loop fields and organized further exploration efforts to the south of Kenai.

Unocal remains the region's largest operator with a daily production rate of 288 million cubic feet of gas and 23,000 barrels of oil. Unocal's public affairs manager, Roxanne Sinz, notes that: "Unocal has reported record earnings for the first quarter of 2001. Record earnings directly translate into more dollars that Unocal can invest in its legacy assets, one of which is Alaska." (Legacy assets are older, more historic company holdings.)

Sinz reports that Unocal is looking forward to new projects in the Cook Inlet region. There is ongoing oil and gas drilling at the King Salmon platform in upper Cook Inlet and Unocal has high expectations for success with at least one off-shore and one onshore upcoming drilling project in the Cook Inlet region.

Unocal anticipates that completion of its seismic study of an area of Cook Inlet north of Ninilichik will be a positive development for the Cook Inlet area. This important step could lead to up to eight new Cook Inlet gas wells within the next few years. "We are continuing to explore this opportunity," remarked Sinz.

The company owns over a 45 percent interest in the McArthur River field, tapped through the Dolly Varden, King Salmon, Steelhead and Grayling platforms. Forest Oil is Unocal's partner in the Dolly Varden, King Salmon, Steelhead, Grayling and Monopod platforms. The company is moving forward to take advantage of its Redoubt Shoal discovery in Cook Inlet. The company is currently drilling a second well in the Redoubt Shoal discovery area. The first well flowed at 1,000 barrels of oil a day. It is estimated that the well will produce up to 2,500 barrels of oil a day. Forest Oil plans include ongoing work at its new Osprey Platform, located in the West Foreland area of Cook Inlet. Redoubt Shoal has been estimated to contain reserves of up to 50 million barrels of oil and 20 billion cubic...