Page 12 - NorthAmOil Week 14

NorthAmOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES NorthAmOil
Premier exits Alaska joint venture after condensate find
ALASKA
PREMIER Oil has said it will exit the Area A joint venture in which it partners with 88 Energy on Alaska’s North Slope. The news comes after 88 Energy announced on April 7 that the Charlie-1 well had encountered natural gas condensates in the Torok sand formation but did not hit the concentrations of oil the partners had been hop- ing for.
In a statement on the same day, Premier said that condensate is more challenging to commer- cialise than the light oil that the Charlie-1 well had been targeting, and that it would be pulling out of Area A as a result.
The company is aiming to exit the joint ven- ture as soon as it receives the necessary regula- tory approvals.
88 Energy is also not pursuing the project further at this stage, and has said it will plug and abandon the well instead of moving to suspension or testing. However, 88 Energy’s managing director, David Wall, said samples
of the gas condensates would be analysed for commercial viability over the next few months.
“On the one hand, we have confirmed the presence of mobile hydrocarbons in the primary targets of the well, but at the same time, there are challenges that need to be more fully understood related to whether these can be commercialised on the North Slope,” Wall said.
88 Energy also noted that additional work this late in the season could result in the rig at the Charlie-1 site being stranded if ice road condi- tions deteriorate. The company is keen to avoid incurring further costs relating to the project. It is also concerned that staff for future work at the site could be unavailable in the coming months owing to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Premier has a 60% interest in Area A, while 88 Energy owns 30% and Burgundy holds the remaining 10%.™
Cryopeak begins construction on small-scale LNG facility
BRITISH COLUMBIA
CANADA’S Cryopeak LNG Solutions has started construction on a small-scale LNG facil- ity in Fort Nelson, British Columbia. The project is the first fully funded and permitted LNG pro- duction facility in the Fort Nelson area, and will have the capacity to produce up to 90,000 gallons (409,148 litres) per day of LNG.
Cryopeak’s facility will be the closest LNG production point to Northern Canada and por- tions of Alaska. Indeed, the project is aimed at supplying remote communities and industries in Northern Canada at a lower cost than if fuel were to be shipped from further away. The company has also touted the environmental credentials of LNG compared to other fuel sources.
The plant will be modular in design with minimal installation requirements at the site, Cryopeak said in an April 2 statement. The plant design incorporates a new truck loading system that optimises loading of Cryopeak’s fleet of LNG Super-B tankers, the company noted.
CryoSys has been selected to supply the lique- faction equipment for the project.
“Our highly efficient optimised mixed refrig- erant process and our ability to package the modular liquefaction plant in our workshop
allows us to provide the lowest installation and operating costs for a small-scale LNG plant in the LNG marketplace,” CryoSys’ president, Neil Karr, said. He added that the equipment would be delivered in the early summer.
Cryopeak said it was partnering with First Nations in the Fort Nelson to develop business opportunities associated with the project. The company anticipates that business opportuni- ties will become available to local workers and businesses for the construction of the facility, and for the distribution of LNG to Northern Canada from a new transportation hub that will be located within the municipality of Fort Nelson.
Cryopeak made no mention in its statement of how the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic might affect the project’s construction. How- ever, on its website, the company says it is closely monitoring the developments related to the pandemic and evaluates its operations on a daily basis.
Larger LNG projects under development in the province – the LNG Canada mega-project and Woodfibre LNG – have both announced changes to activity as a result of COVID-19.™
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 14 09•April•2020