hi pg,
I've been a little surprised that we haven't seen a stronger APC stock price. The last major news release back in Dec or Jan sent the stock on a nice run and hopefully this news will do the same.
Arco, Andardarko find new oil near Alpine field
By Yereth Rosen
ANCHORAGE, Alaska, July 6 (Reuters) - Atlantic Richfield Co's <ARC.N> Arco Alaska Inc. and partner Anadarko Petroleum Co <APC.N>. Tuesday announced the discovery of what the companies said they hope will be the first of several satellite oil accumulations near their Alpine oil field.
The Fiord accumulation, about five miles north of the Alpine project, contains an estimated 50 million barrels of proven and potential reserves, Arco said.
The Fiord No. 5 exploratory well encountered hydrocarbons from two formations that yielded 2,500 barrels per day of oil and 1.2 million standard cubic feet of gas a day, Arco said.
The discovery well was on a lease in which Arco owns a 78 percent interest and Anadarko a 22 percent interest, similar to the ownership split of the 365 million-barrel Alpine field, Arco said.
Arco is excited about the discovery, but is concentrating for now on starting up the Alpine field, which will have the facilities through which Fiord oil can be produced, said company spokeswoman Dawn Patience.
"The first step here is to get Alpine on line in mid-2000, and Fiord would be a couple of years behind," Patience said.
The discovery of a relatively small accumulation near a larger field is part of Arco's North Slope strategy, she said. The company estimates that such satellite fields hold 1 billion barrels of proven and potential reserves that could be produced through adjacent fields' facilities, she said.
"Arco's pretty set on satellites all across the North Slope," she said. "Developing those fields gives us a chance to maximize our prodution."
The flow test from the Fiord discovery well yielded a combination of oil that averaged 30 degrees API gravity, Arco said. That oil was not as light as that in the Alpine reservoir, which tests at about 40 degrees API gravity, but it was lighter than oil from the supergiant Prudhoe Bay field, Patience said.
Alpine development is about 80 percent complete, and the field is on schedule to begin production in mid-2000 at a rate of 40,000 barrels a day, increasing to 70,000 barrels a day the following year, Arco said.
Alpine, located in the Colville River Delta about 30 miles west of the Kuparuk oil field, will be the North Slope's westernmost producing oil field when it comes on line. The Alpine project is located on state land just east of the border of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
19:41 07-06-99
|
