Spanish oil major and North
Slope explorer Repsol and privately held Denver based Armstrong Energy
announced the discovery of the massive Horseshoe oil field in Alaska. The
contingent resources currently identified in the Nanushuk play amount to
approximately 1.2 billion barrels of recoverable light oil. This is the largest
U.S. onshore conventional hydrocarbons discovery in the last 30 years. The
Horseshoe-1 and Horseshoe-1A wells drilled in the 2016-2017 winter campaign
confirm Nanushuk as a significant emerging play in Alaska’s North Slope. The
discovery is 20 miles south of where the two companies have already found oil
in a project known as Pikka. Preliminary development concepts for Pikka
anticipate first production there from 2021, with a potential rate approaching
120,000 barrels of oil per day. The new massive find of conventional oil on
state land could bring relief to budget pains in Alaska brought on by slumping
production in the state and the crash in oil prices. Source: Repsol.