Oil's black holes and shining stars.

• Author: Tyson, Ray
• Position: Oil and gas projects in Alaska

World petroleum prices continue to wreak havoc on Alaska, but a few oil and gas projects offer prize potential.

Low oil prices have forced two of the state's major oil companies, Arco Alaska and BP Exploration, to cut back on exploratory drilling this year.

The state's most aggressive explorer in recent years, Arco says it is now planning to drill or participate in four to five wells in 1994, compared to 13 last year.

Arco is operating just two wells on the North Slope this winter -- Fiord No. 2 and Bergshrund No. 1 -- located in the Colville Delta near two discoveries announced by the company in 1992.

In Cook Inlet, Arco's Sunfish partner Phillips Petroleum is drilling a second delineation well from the Tyonek Platform, and Arco plans to drill another well from Glomar Adriatic jackup rig to further test the prospect's northern sector.

Meanwhile, Arco says total capital spending in Alaska this year will amount to about $300 million, compared to $415 million in 1993.

BP had not released its capital budget as of early February. But the company says it will not drill a previously announced appraisal well at its Badami prospect east of Prudhoe Bay.

In spite of low oil prices, BP says it will proceed with the Sourdough No. 1, Northwest Milne appraisal and Amethyst State No. 1 wells, as well as a 3-dimensional seismic program on the North Slope.

However, a BP spokesman said that additional "deferrals" in capital spending can be expected if oil prices don't improve.

COOK INLET CUTBACK

Weak oil prices have put at least a temporary damper on Unocal's aggressive drilling program in Cook Inlet, forcing a whopping 29 percent reduction in capital spending this year.

Nonetheless, 1994 should be among Unocal's most active years in Cook Inlet since its heyday back in the 1960s, as the company proceeds with development of its highly regarded Chakachatna properties in the Granite Point and Middle Ground Shoal fields.

"Cook Inlet is a critical component of our overall domestic program," emphasizes Kevin Tabler, Unocal's Alaska land manager.

Still, months of faltering oil prices forced Unocal to reduce its capital budget from $114 million to $81 million, a margin which puts this year's budget about $9 million below 1993 spending levels.

Tabler concedes that while oil prices won't prevent Unocal from concentrating on what matters, they will likely affect development drilling and production schedules outlined in the company's aggressive three-year expansion program launched last year.

The largest oil producer in Cook Inlet, Unocal had hoped to...