Alaska's Smaller Oil and Gas Producers Make Big Mark.

• Author: KANE, ROGER
• Position: Statistical Data Included

Within the state of Alaska, there are 17 oil companies with wells capable of producing natural gas or crude oil. Eight of those companies are operators actively involved in extracting oil and natural gas from Alaska's subsurface.

A look at the list of eight operators some well-known entities, as well as some lesser-known companies. Reporting production in April were: BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., XTO Energy (formerly Cross Timbers Oil Co.), Forest Oil Co., Marathon Oil Co., the North Slope Borough, Phillips, Alaska Inc., Phillips Petroleum Co., and Union Oil Co. of California.

These operators have 2,464 gas and oil wells, in Alaska, but not all are producing, according to Steve McMains, a statistical technician for the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. The AOGCC oversees oil and gas drilling, development and production, reservoir depletion and metering operations on all lands subject to the state's police powers.

The most recent data reported by the oil companies to the AOGCC saw 1,866 wells produce oil and 95 produce natural gas in April. The remaining wells were not producing gas or oil, according to McMains

While BP Exploration (Alaska) owns and operates most of the wells in Alaska (1,499) Phillips Alaska Inc. and Phillips Petroleum Co. are producing oil and gas from 606 wells and Union Oil Co. of California has 227 wells.

The four smaller operators are wells combined. They may not generate the revenues of corporations like British Petroleum, but their contributions to the economy in Alaska are significant.

Denver based Forest Oil and its subsidiaries are focusing activities in Alaska on exploration, development, production and marketing of oil, natural gas and liquids.

Forest Oil is one of the 10 largest independent exploration and production companies in the United States. It gained that status in 2000 when it integrated Forcenergy Inc. into its fold. The merger produced a company with a value of more than $2 billion and proved reserves of more than 1.4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

One of Forest Oil's long-term goals is to expand gas exploration activities in Alaska. Forest Oil estimates that Alaska's 600,000 square miles holds natural gas reserves of 300 tcf--roughly twice the proven existing reserve base of the United States--which makes Alaska an attractive place for Forest Oil to explore.

While Forest Oil's focus as a national entity is on the production of natural gas, in Alaska what is most often produced is oil...