Great Bear Tactics ???

Apart from relying on Ice 2V results !!!

http://www.petroleumnews.com/products/Exp_2017.pdf

2010-2013 Great Bear purchased its initial 500,000-acre leasehold during a state sale in 2010, when unconventional oil was overhauling domestic energy production in the Lower 48. The company envisioned launching a similar revolution in Alaska.

From a geological standpoint, the idea was to trace the oil in the prolific conventional reservoirs on the North Slope back to their source rocks, and develop those directly. Studies had indicated that the source might be three stacked rock formations to the south of the Prudhoe Bay and Kuparuk River units.

Using horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, Great Bear saw the potential for developing all three source rocks at once. The location of the leasehold initially seemed ideal. Being so close to the Dalton Highway allowed the company to avoid seasonal restrictions and work year-round.

Great Bear identified six well locations and drilled two stratigraphic wells — Alcor No. 1 and Merak No. 1 — in the summer and fall of 2012.

The smaller than anticipated drilling program was the result of a later than expected start and the pending end of a rig contract. In addition to collecting core samples, the company also commissioned a 3-D seismic survey to identify future drilling locations and possibly some conventional leads.

Early on, Great Bear touted its potential to revolutionize the Alaska oil industry with source rock development. The program would require significantly more wells than a conventional development and could theoretically add hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil production each day to the waning throughput on the transAlaska oil pipeline.

2013-2015

The results of the initial drilling program revealed the difficulties in reaching that goal. While the location of the leases was useful from a logistical standpoint, it was less than ideal from a historical standpoint. The area had relatively little prior exploration activity.

Great Bear prioritized additional seismic activities as a way to expand and refine its inventory of high-impact prospects across the leasehold. The company commissioned 3-D seismic surveys in 2012, 2013 and 2014 and assembled a team of geoscientists to compile a database to help identify potential sweet spots for FUTURE SOURCE ROCK DEVELOPMENT.

After completing those 3-D seismic surveys, Great Bear launched a second round of drilling activity designed to target both conventional and unconventional prospects. The original program called for drilling three exploration wells, although Great Bear was only able to complete one — Alkaid No. 1 — before the end of the drilling season in early 2015. And the flooding along the Dalton Highway that winter prevented the company from testing the well. “We’re looking for an opportunity to go back and test it, but we’re encouraged by what we found there,” Galvin said at the Alaska Oil and Gas Congress.

d.