Two projects in Interior Alaska are moving forward thanks to a supportive tax policy.
Ahtna will begin drilling a gas well 10 miles west in Glennallen in February on state-owned land it leased two years ago. The Tolsona Oil and Gas Project has most permits in hand, finished its preliminary engineering on a well design and pre-qualified for New Frontier Basin Oil and Gas Tax Credits. The next steps involve acquiring a drill rig, building the access road and drill pad, finalizing permits and well design and selecting contractors and vendors for the project.
“Exploration incentives such as the New Frontier Basin Tax Credits provide critical inducements to companies such as Ahtna to invest in natural resource exploration and development,” Ahtna President Michelle Anderson testified during SB 21 discussions.
Interestingly, the new guy in charge of Ahtna’s businesses is an old friend of ours – Tom Maloney, formerly Alaska Area Manager for CH2MHILL and a long-time steering committee member for both Make Alaska Competitive and KEEP Alaska Competitive.
Doyon, Limited has decided to accelerate its oil and gas exploration program in the Nenana basin with 2-D seismic testing in a large area north of more recent operations.
Crews will begin mobilizing in early January for this 160-mile program, which will continue into April 2016. This effort is part of Doyon’s long-term exploration program in this 1,200-square mile frontier basin in Interior Alaska located west of Fairbanks and parallel to the Parks Highway. Doyon is the sole lessee of approximately 400,000 acres of state oil and gas leases in the Nenana basin and owns the subsurface, including oil and gas rights, to an additional 42,000 acres.