ConocoPhillips Devils Paw Prospect, Chukchi Sea: A ...

1 Volume 44 Number 7 March 2014 Page 1 ConocoPhillips Devils Paw Prospect, Chukchi Sea: A Beaufortian Play analogous to the Kuparuk River Field, North Slope Alaska Gregory C. Wilson1 Chris Seaman2 Kent Smith3 1 ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc., Anchorage, AK 2 ConocoPhillips Norway; Stavanger, Norway 3 ConocoPhillips ; Retired The Devils Paw prospect is a large four-way dip closure at the Beaufortian primary objective in the Lower Cretaceous, with nearly 1000 feet of structural relief covering approximately 275,000 acres. Leases over the prospect were obtained in 2008 by competitive bid in Sale 193. The structure was penetrated by the Shell Klondike 1 well in 1989 on its way to a deeper objective, encountering a thin hydrocarbon-charged reservoir in the Lower Cretaceous at a position high on paleo-structure.

2 ConocoPhillips and co-owners Statoil and OOGC have selected drill locations interpreted to be more favorable to thick Lower Cretaceous reservoir development, but drilling plans are currently on hold. Phanerozoic stratigraphy in the Chukchi Sea includes Ellesmerian, Beaufortian, and Brookian mega-sequences correlative to that of Alaska s North Slope. Hydrocarbon-charged reservoir facies within the Beaufortian and Brookian mega-sequences, and source facies within the Ellesmerian mega-sequence, were encountered during the drilling of the five wells in the Chukchi Sea from 1989 - 1991. (continued) AGS Luncheon Date & Time: March 20h, 11:30 am 1:00 pm Program: ConocoPhillips Devils Paw Prospect, Chukchi Sea: A Beaufortian Play analogous to the Kuparuk River Field, North Slope Alaska Speaker: Greg Wilson, ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc.

3 , Anchorage, AK Place: BP Energy Center Reservations: Make your reservation before noon Tuesday, March 18th, 2014 Cost: Seminar only, no meal: Free Reserve a box lunch: $15 Lunch with no reservation: On an as-available basis only E-mail reservations: or phone (907) 564-4028. For more information visit: Volume 44 Number 7 March 2014 Page 2 About the Speaker: Greg Wilson is currently Director of Arctic Exploration for ConocoPhillips Alaska. He has over 23 years of oil and gas exploration experience in Alaska with ConocoPhillips and herit-age companies, ARCO and Phillips, during which time he never had to work directly with Bob Swenson. From 2000 to 2009 Greg worked as project geologist for many of the explo-ration wells drilled In the NPR-A, including discoveries now on their way to development.

4 For an exploration geologist, few things were as gratifying as an active drilling program in the winter and a field program in the summer. During this time Greg conducted tours for many US Senators, a Secretary of the Interior, National Directors of the BLM, and a White House panel on energy always promoting responsible exploration of Alaska s North Slope. Greg has been an active member in the Alaska Geological Society, including serving as President, Vice-President, and for eight years Newsletter Editor. In addition, he co-chaired the 2006 Joint AAPG-GSA-SPE Convention and the 2008 Prudhoe at 40 Technical Conference. He has received a Distinguished Service Award from the Pacific Section of AAPG in 2011. Greg was an adjunct lecturer at Alaska Pacific University for five years.

5 His PhD in Geology is from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The primary objective at Devils Paw is a combined regressive-transgressive stratigraphic assemblage at about 9000 feet crestal depth within the Beaufortian Mega-sequence, roughly equivalent to the shallow ma-rine Lower Cretaceous Kuparuk A and C sands of the Kuparuk River Field, onshore Alaska. The prospect is covered by a 3D seismic survey acquired in 2007 and multiple vintages of 2D seismic da-ta. Although of relatively low frequency, the 3D seismic data is sufficient to define the structural closure as well as stratal geometries of the objective interval. Along a south-to-north seismic section these stratal geom-etries include a lower, northward prograding succession subtly truncated below a transgressive, southward-onlapping succession.

6 The paleostructural high, interpreted from truncations of the prograding succession, is located south of the present-day structural high. The Klondike 1 well penetrated the Lower Cretaceous inter-val near this paleostructural high, revealing a thin sharp-based glauconitic sandstone interpreted to be a transgressive sandstone at the base of the onlapping succession. Post-depositional compressional inversion has shifted the structural crest northward. ConocoPhillips plans to drill north of the paleostructural high, in an area with preservation of a thick prograding succession not present in Klondike 1 and higher accommodation space for the upper onlapping succession present in Klondike 1 as a thin transgressive sandstone. From the President s Desk: Although the calendar says it s early in the year the AGS has only a few more newsletters to go before summer break.

7 Even so there s no relaxing as we re heading into a busy part of the year with the Spring Tech conference coming up in May and a jam packed talk schedule in April. Hopefully the membership finds the AGS a useful resource. Another year end event for the AGS is our annual election. Please consider par-ticipating as a board member, director or committee member. Talk to anyone of the folks listed on the back page of the newsletter if you re interested or want to know more about where our needs are. On the theme of volunteerism I d like to give a hearty thanks to the Scholarship Committee chair, Sue Karl, and the other committee members for a great effort this year. Sue had the added task of coordinating with the Pacific Section AAPG to obtain extra funding through a scholarship program they manage.

8 Navigating the rules and regulations is always a challenge whether governmental, academic or private industry and she s done a fine job. It s not quite over yet but we have a fine list of students attending Alaska schools as well as a few folks doing projects here in the state to help support. ~ Matt Volume 44 Number 7 March 2014 Page 3 THE ALASKA GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY 2013-2014 Season Luncheon Program. Updates on the web at: Thursday, August 22, 2013 James McCalpin, Geo-Haz; The Mountains Are Falling Apart; A Spectrum of Mass Failures; Rockslides, Sackungs and Unfolding Thursday, September 19, 2013 Sue Karl, USGS; Quaternary Volcanoes in Southeast Alaska Thursday, October 17, 2013 Erin E. Donaghy, Northen Arizona Univ.; South-Central Alaska: Modification of a Forearc Basin by Spreadng Ridge Subduction Thursday, November 21, 2013 John Decker, Niko Resources; Seabed mapping and the search for oil and gas seeps offshore Thursday, December 12, 2013 Leo Brown, COP & Daniel Yancey, BP, 4D Seismic at Alpine Field & Time-lapse 3D/4D observations at Simpson Lagoon, Milne Pt.

9 Thursday, January 16, 2014 Richard O. Lease, USGS; Thrust belt propagation, canyon incision and hydrocarbon systems in the Central Andes Thursday, February 20, 2014 David Houseknecht, USGS, Alaska s North Slope and the Chukchi Shelf Thursday, March 20, 2014 Greg Wilson, ConocoPhillips Alaska, devil s Paw Prospect, Chukchi Sea, Alaska Friday, April 11, 2014 Allison Thurmond, Statoil (AAPG Distinguished Lecturer), Industry-Driven Advances in Predictive Earth Systems modelling (Evening meeting; 6:00 pm, BP Energy Center) Monday, April 14, 2014 John Kaldi, University of Adelaide, Carbon Capture and Storage , Main Conference Rooms A, B, C at BP Exploration Alaska Thursday, May 15, 2014 Keynote Speaker at the AGS Technical Conference, University of Alaska.

10 Anchorage If you would like to volunteer a talk or would like to suggest a speaker, please contact Monte Mabry at 230-4488. Volume 44 Number 7 March 2014 Page 4 ALASKA FOSSILS OF THE MONTH Ordovician Carbonate Facies of Prince of Wales Island, Southeast Alaska by David M. Rohr1, Susan M. Karl2, Robert B. Blodgett3, James F. Baichtal4, and Elizabeth A. Measures1 1 Sul Ross State University, Alpine, TX 79832 2 USGS, 4210 University Dr., Anchorage, AK 99508-4626 3 Geological Consultant, 2821 Kingfisher Drive, Anchorage, AK 99502 4 Forest Service, Tongass National Forest, Thorne Bay, AK 99919 Paleozoic rocks on Prince of Wales Island (figs. 1 & 2) make up part of the Alexander terrane, a major accreted block within the accretionary collage that comprises much of western North America (Berg et al.)