Sep. 11--The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has approved a new exploration unit in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.

The Bear Tooth unit includes about 105,000 acres of leases owned by ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. and Anadarko Petroleum Corp., many of which were due to expire soon, according to Greg Noble, BLM's acting branch chief for energy and minerals in Alaska.

It is the second exploration unit formed in NPR-A and is adjacent to the Moose's Tooth unit formed earlier by ConocoPhillips and Anadarko. Both units are in the northeast part of the NPR-A, where the two companies have been exploring and making some discoveries.

"This is another step in the development of oil and gas resources in the NPR-A," said Noble. "Forming a unit allows explorers to group leases and develop an orderly exploration plan. In some cases we are also able to extend the primary lease terms. What the government gets out of this are commitments and a plan to do further exploration and development work."

ConocoPhillips and Anadarko have committed so far to drill one new exploration well and to test and fracture an exploration well previously drilled, the Scout well, located in the southeast part of the new unit, Noble said. This is an initial development plan, and the BLM will negotiate with the companies on further development obligations.

ConocoPhillips spokeswoman Natalie Lowman said the new unit covers the Cassin and Summit prospects that have been identified by the company and its partner, Anadarko.

Lowman said ConocoPhillips also relinquished 43 leases in NPR-A in August, returning the acreage to the federal government.

Noble said the companies are continuing to work in the Moose's Tooth unit. He said the companies plan to develop the CD-6 drill site in the Moose's Tooth area in about 2014 as part of a plan to sequentially develop prospects west of the Alpine oil field, which is on state-owned lands just east of the NPR-A boundary.

Noble said near-term development work is now focused on CD-5, a drill site closer to Alpine, which is within the NPR-A, but with the subsurface mineral rights owned by Arctic Slope Regional Corp.

ConocoPhillips plans to begin construction this winter at CD-5, and to have the drill site in production in late 2011 or 2012. This will be the first commercial production from the NPR-A.

NPR-A is a 23 million acre federal reserve in the northwest part of Alaska's Arctic Slope, west of the major producing fields in the Prudhoe Bay area. The reserve was first created in 1923 by President Warren Harding as a naval petroleum reserve. The reserve has seen sporadic exploration since World War II, with only scattered oil and gas finds, none of them commercial.

Leasing to private companies and industry exploration began in the 1990s, but it is only in recent years that more focused exploration, led by ConocoPhillips, Anadarko and Talisman Energy subsidiary FEX LLC, have resulted in discoveries.

The ConocoPhillips and Anadarko finds, believed to be of modest scope, are now in the two units the companies have formed.

Tim Bradner can be reached at

tim.bradner@alaskajournal.com.

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