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Released March 21, 2025 | SUGAR LAND
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Written by Daniel Graeber for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--A new discovery and revisions to the oil potential in Alaska suggests one of the early entries into the North American oil scene has some life remaining.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA), the data office for the U.S. Department of Energy, said it expects Alaskan crude oil production to average 438,000 barrels per day (BBL/d) next year, close to a 4% increase from what's forecast for this year.
"Two new oil developments in Alaska - the Nuna and Pikka projects - are expected to boost crude oil production in the state after decades of decline," the EIA said Wednesday. If realized, this annual production increase will be the first since 2017 and the largest since 2002."
First oil for ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) (Houston, Texas) came out of the ground in the Nuna prospect in December and peak production is forecast to reach 20,000 BBL/d. Industrial Info is following 14 ConocoPhillips facilities in Alaska. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Plant Database can click here for the plant profiles.
Australian energy company Santos (Adelaide) and Spain's Repsol (Madrid) are working on phase 1 of the Pikka development on the North Slope, where wells should churn out around 80,000 BBL/d at the peak. Subscribers can click here for the Pikka project reports and click here for the plant profiles.
The North Slope holds six of the largest oil fields in the United States. Production in Alaska peaked at around 2 million BBL/d in 1988, though output has declined ever since. That pales in comparison to the 6.6 million BBL/d found today in the Permian Basin.
Meanwhile, a warming climate means operators have a shorter period of time to work in the icy tundra in Alaska.
But on Monday, APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) (Houston, Texas), Lagniappe Alaska--an Armstrong Oil & Gas (Denver, Colorado) division--and Oil Search, a Santos subsidiary, announced a discovery at the Sockeye-2 exploration well in the North Slope. While it was too early to offer a reserve estimate, the companies said the 25 feet of net-oil pay in the discovery was better than expected.
"The Sockeye-2 well further demonstrates the potential of the play, presenting an exciting opportunity in an active area of the North Slope with significant existing infrastructure," said Bill Armstrong, the chief executive officer of Armstrong Oil & Gas.
Alaskan operations are not for the faint of heart. Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) (London, England) was an early entry to Alaska, drilling its first wildcat well in the 1950s. A wildcat well is one drilled into an area not yet proved to contain hydrocarbons.
A string of problems with Shell's offshore drilling infrastructure in Alaska during the 2010s sparked backlash from an environmental advocacy community that was still on edge from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (now designated as the Gulf of America by the Trump administration). Shell forked over $39 billion in a 2007 lease, but the company wound up leaving the state altogether less than a decade later.
Hilcorp Energy (Anchorage, Alaska) was the lone bidder for a Cook Inlet lease in 2023. Its high bid of a meager $64,000 for a 2,304-acre parcel was just a tiny slice of the 1 million acres put on the auction block by the federal government.
Former President Joe Biden put most of the federal territorial waters off limits in one of his final acts of office last year, and worked to limit operations in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. President Donald Trump overturned that in an executive order.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
The Energy Information Administration (EIA), the data office for the U.S. Department of Energy, said it expects Alaskan crude oil production to average 438,000 barrels per day (BBL/d) next year, close to a 4% increase from what's forecast for this year.
"Two new oil developments in Alaska - the Nuna and Pikka projects - are expected to boost crude oil production in the state after decades of decline," the EIA said Wednesday. If realized, this annual production increase will be the first since 2017 and the largest since 2002."
First oil for ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) (Houston, Texas) came out of the ground in the Nuna prospect in December and peak production is forecast to reach 20,000 BBL/d. Industrial Info is following 14 ConocoPhillips facilities in Alaska. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Plant Database can click here for the plant profiles.
Australian energy company Santos (Adelaide) and Spain's Repsol (Madrid) are working on phase 1 of the Pikka development on the North Slope, where wells should churn out around 80,000 BBL/d at the peak. Subscribers can click here for the Pikka project reports and click here for the plant profiles.
The North Slope holds six of the largest oil fields in the United States. Production in Alaska peaked at around 2 million BBL/d in 1988, though output has declined ever since. That pales in comparison to the 6.6 million BBL/d found today in the Permian Basin.
Meanwhile, a warming climate means operators have a shorter period of time to work in the icy tundra in Alaska.
But on Monday, APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) (Houston, Texas), Lagniappe Alaska--an Armstrong Oil & Gas (Denver, Colorado) division--and Oil Search, a Santos subsidiary, announced a discovery at the Sockeye-2 exploration well in the North Slope. While it was too early to offer a reserve estimate, the companies said the 25 feet of net-oil pay in the discovery was better than expected.
"The Sockeye-2 well further demonstrates the potential of the play, presenting an exciting opportunity in an active area of the North Slope with significant existing infrastructure," said Bill Armstrong, the chief executive officer of Armstrong Oil & Gas.
Alaskan operations are not for the faint of heart. Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) (London, England) was an early entry to Alaska, drilling its first wildcat well in the 1950s. A wildcat well is one drilled into an area not yet proved to contain hydrocarbons.
A string of problems with Shell's offshore drilling infrastructure in Alaska during the 2010s sparked backlash from an environmental advocacy community that was still on edge from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (now designated as the Gulf of America by the Trump administration). Shell forked over $39 billion in a 2007 lease, but the company wound up leaving the state altogether less than a decade later.
Hilcorp Energy (Anchorage, Alaska) was the lone bidder for a Cook Inlet lease in 2023. Its high bid of a meager $64,000 for a 2,304-acre parcel was just a tiny slice of the 1 million acres put on the auction block by the federal government.
Former President Joe Biden put most of the federal territorial waters off limits in one of his final acts of office last year, and worked to limit operations in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. President Donald Trump overturned that in an executive order.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
