Cook Inlet might have more oil

Cook Inlet may have more oil and gas to give, but developing it could present a challenge.

Though there is active development on oil fields in the northern Cook Inlet and one producer in the Cosmopolitan field near Anchor Point, there may be resources that are going unexplored in other parts of the inlet, particularly along the west side.

There is likely more oil deeper below the rock layers that are currently being drilled in Upper Cook Inlet.

A study conducted by geologists from the Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys evaluated petroleum in the Jurassic layer, a stratum below the Cenozoic layer, where most Cook Inlet oil and gas is extracted.

The study looked at oil seeps in Chinitna Bay on the west side of Cook Inlet and found that the oil is in older rocks than other areas of the inlet. Chinitna Bay, located at the south end of Lake Clark National Park, shows oil-stained fault zones along the Iniskin Peninsula on the southern shore of the bay.

Oil exploration on the Iniskin Peninsula has a long history — seepages were spotted there as early as 1853, some of the first known oil explorations in Cook Inlet.

Individuals began staking claims on the peninsula as early as 1892 and wells were drilled there in the early 20th century. None of them turned up enough to make it viable.

However, the oil is literally so visible and available that surveyors can collect oil samples from the surface, said David LePain, a petroleum geologist with the Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys.

“This is one of those locations where you have sands where if you hit them with a hammer, you smell hydrocarbons,” LePain said. “You send them off to the lab, and they can analyze hydrocarbons from this sample.”

The oil is not immediately available near the surface. From previous drilling efforts and studies, geologists have determined that most of the oil is probably migrating to the surface through fractured reservoirs — cracks in the rock that allow oil to migrate upward in small amounts.

Drilling there may be tricky and possibly not worth it for commercial producers because of the expense required to start up there. If the payoff isn’t sure, it may be difficult to develop. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible that producers will explore there, said Paul Decker, a petroleum geologist and resource evaluation manager with the Alaska Division of Oil & Gas.

“If (developing a field is) economically challenged in general, it’s more challenged at low prices,” Decker said. “That doesn’t mean that no one is going to do anything out here.”

One of the reasons state geologists are studying the rocks there is to gather more information and make it available as they find it, not necessarily to push for commercial development, Decker said.

“We want to make sure that people know these occurrences exist,” Decker said. “It’s not that we’re purporting that there are going to be commercially viable reservoirs.”

Some commercial oil producers have eyed the region’s potential for future development. Cook Inlet Energy won the exploration rights to the area in 2014, but surrendered the license on Sept. 28, 2015. Shortly afterward, its parent company Miller Energy declared involuntary bankruptcy on Oct. 1. Hilcorp has also applied to obtain 2-D seismic data on the Iniskin Peninsula.

The study is part of a long-standing program within the Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys to better understand the geology and oil potential of the Cook Inlet basin, LePain said.

“Our focus is to understand the oil, gas, coal and resource potential of Alaska state lands,” LePain said. “Since 2006, we’ve had a program underway to better understand the potential of the Cook Inlet basin … so that oil companies exploring in that basin have scientific information to help further their development and exploration efforts.”

The study’s authors wrote that it merits further exploration, but whether the deeper layer of Cook Inlet can support a full-blown oil production industry remains to be seen. Predicting migration pathways and identifying where the most economically significant reservoirs are remain challenges, the authors wrote.

One of the goals of the Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys’ Cook Inlet project is to provide more information to companies seeking to explore for those fractured reservoirs, LePain said.

“If you’re trying to pull in that information and that information is out there, if you’re doing your homework, you can get it and build a geological model of that part of the basin,” LePain said. “You’re not drilling blind.”

 

Reach Elizabeth Earl at elizabeth.earl@peninsulaclarion.com.

More in News

The Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation building is seen in Juneau, Alaska, in March 2022. The deadline for the permanent fund dividend is coming up fast, landing on March 31, 2023. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
PFD application deadline is next week; state revenue forecasts lower than expected

Alaska North Slope crude oil was estimated to be about $71.62 per barrel on Monday

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)
COVID-19: Cases jump in Kenai Peninsula Borough

No hospitalizations were reported in the Gulf Coast region

The Challenger Learning Center is seen in Kenai, Alaska, on Sept. 10, 2020. (Peninsula Clarion file)
Transportation gaps to be the focus of community meeting

The goal is to create a task force who can regularly meet and move forward on the issue

Bob Schroeder takes an electric chainsaw to a mock credit card during a protest outside the Wells Fargo in downtown Juneau at midday Tuesday. Schroeder cut up three mock credit cards representing three banks in Juneau protesters say are leading funders of fossil fuel development projects. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Protesters object to banks financing fossil fuel projects

Demonstrators used chain saw to cut up giant credit cards

The members of Sankofa Dance Theater Alaska perform for a crowd of students during an opening performance at Kaleidoscope School of Arts and Science in Kenai, Alaska on Monday, March 20, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Uniting through movement

Kaleidoscope students learn about western African dances and music with in-residence artists

A blizzard warning is issued for the Eastern Kenai Peninsula and beyond by the National Weather Service on Tuesday, March 21, 2023. (Screenshot)
Blizzard warning issued for Seward, Turnagain Pass

Snow accumulation is predicted to be from 7 to 20 inches

The Homer Spit and the Kenai Mountains are photographed of Monday, May 17, 2021, as seen from West Hill in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
Magnitude 5.4 earthquake strikes west of Homer

The earthquake occurred just after 7 a.m.

Homer Police Lt. Ryan Browning provides ‘youth and technology’ presentation Saturday Feb. 4 at Homer High School in Homer, Alaska. Photo provided by Christopher Kincaid.
Social media harms targeted in community meetings

Homer police visiting Central Peninsula to open dialogue about “Parenting in the Digital Age”

The intersection of the Kenai Spur and Sterling highways is seen on Saturday, May 7, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion file photo)
Borough to use federal funds for street safety

The funds were made available through the Safe Streets and Roads for All program

Most Read