US Alaska North Slope exploration basin
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Report summary
The North Slope is an established producing petroleum province where exploration began in the 1950's. To date, over 35 bnboe has been discovered in the basin, notably in the super-giant Prudhoe Bay and Kuparuk oil fields. The basin is located in a harsh Arctic environment presenting unique challenges for explorers, such as seasonal access, environmental issues, and high costs. Potential for material discoveries exists within the offshore plays, particularly the Chukchi Sea, but in the current environment companies are choosing to relinquish offshore leases, casting doubts over the future of the play. However, recent exceptional onshore exploration success in the emerging Nanushuk play, and also offshore in the Beaufort Sea play, have made Alaska one of the top global exploration targets, particularly onshore. The combined prospective resource, together with relatively favourable access conditions compared with other basins, make it attractive to explorers.
What's included
This report contains
Table of contents
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Key facts
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Summary and key issues
- Key issues include:
- Location maps
- Participation
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Key companies
- Well participation
- Geology
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Exploration
- Wells drilled
- Basin success rates
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Reserves and resources
- Volumes discovered
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Prospective resource potential
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Play inputs
- Creaming curve and key play data
- Model field pool size distribution
- Existing discoveries and modelled prospective resource pool size distribution
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Play inputs
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Development
- Prospective resource costs and underlying assumptions
- Costs
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Fiscal and regulatory
- Licensing
- Fiscal terms
- Economic assumptions
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Economic analysis
- TYP economics
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Outlook economics
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Development value
- Beauforts Sea
- Chukchi Sea
- Colville River
- NPR-A Area
- Nanushuk
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Prospect breakeven price
- Beaufort Sea
- Chukchi Sea
- Colville River
- NPR-A Area
- Nanushuk
- Play economics
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Development value
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Full cycle basin economics
- Implied acreage value
Tables and charts
This report includes 96 images and tables including:
Images
- Value creation versus investment (TYP period)
- Value creation versus investment (outlook)
- Exploration history map
- Exploration wells by play
- Licensed exploration acreage
- Expiry forecast of current licences
- Exploration and appraisal spend
- Exploration spend per well and average well depth*
- Brent and local oil price assumptions
- Henry Hub and local gas price assumptions
- Commerciality index
- Gross exploration wells completed by operator
- Net exploration wells completed by participant
- Drilling activity by well type
- Cumulative exploration wells by play
- Discoveries and success rates
- Discoveries by licence year and drilling year
- Basin creaming curve
- Volumes discovered by year
- Average discovery size and volume per well by year
- Cumulative discoveries by play
- Cumulative volumes discovered by play
- Value creation, exploration spend & volume discovered
- Returns by drilling year
- Breakeven price versus prospect size
- Value creation versus investment
- Beaufort Sea
- Chukchi Sea
- Colville River
- NPR-A Area
- Nanushuk
- Beaufort Sea
- Chukchi Sea
- Colville River
- NPR-A Area
- Nanushuk
- Value of potential discoveries
- Unit value of potential discoveries
- Value of potential discoveries
- Unit value of potential discoveries
- Value of potential discoveries
- Unit value of potential discoveries
- Value of potential discoveries
- Unit value of potential discoveries
- Value of potential discoveries
- Unit value of potential discoveries
- Breakeven price of exploration
- Discount rate breakeven price sensitivities
- Breakeven price of exploration
- Discount rate breakeven price sensitivities
- Breakeven price of exploration
- Discount rate breakeven price sensitivities
- Breakeven price of exploration
- Discount rate breakeven price sensitivities
- Breakeven price of exploration
- Discount rate breakeven price sensitivities
Tables
- Key play characteristics
- Key assumptions
- Key licence holders
- Key play characteristics
- Recent discovery costs
- Summary of discovery and development costs
- Key well operators (TYP period)
- Key companies: Table 3
- Key basin data
- Top discoveries (TYP period)
- Forecast data by play (outlook)
- Beaufort Sea
- Chukchi Sea
- Colville River
- NPRA Area
- Nanushuk
- Typical fiscal terms - Colville River, Nanushuk, NPR-A (State of Alaska terms)
- Typical fiscal terms - Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea (Federal terms)
- Full-cycle economic analysis
- Beaufort Sea
- Chukchi Sea
- Economic analysis: Table 8
- NPR-A Area
- Nanushuk
- Average value of future discoveries and implied acreage value
- Reserves and resources: Table 4
- Reserves and resources: Table 5
- Reserves and resources: Table 6
- Reserves and resources: Table 7
- Reserves and resources: Table 8
- Beaufort Sea
- Chukchi Sea
- Colville River
- NPRA Area
- Nanushuk
- Economic analysis: Table 1
- Economic analysis: Table 2
- Economic analysis: Table 3
- NPR-A Area
- Nanushuk
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