New Mega Oil Discovery In Alaska Could Reverse 3 Decades Of Decline
By Nick Cunningham
OilPrice.com
Oct 06, 2016
A small company just announced that it has made a “world-class” oil discovery in Alaska, which could be the largest find in the state in years.
Caelus Energy LLC, a small company backed by private equity, says that it has discovered oil on Alaska’s northern coast. The field could hold as much as 6 billion barrels of oil, with about 1.8 to 2.4 billion barrels considered to be recoverable. If that is the case, the discovery would instantly raise Alaska’s statewide recoverable oil reserve base by about 80 percent.
But producing the oil will not be easy. Drilling must take place in the winter. To drill the field, the tentative plan would be to build manmade islands to drill through. Oil produced in the shallow water of Smith Bay will need to be moved somehow. Caelus will have to build an $800 million pipeline that travels 125 miles, connecting to an existing pipeline system in Prudhoe Bay.
“It’s a really exciting discovery for us, and we think it’s really exciting for the state of Alaska,” Caelus CEO Jim Musselman said in a phone interview with Bloomberg. “They need a shot in the arm now.”
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