Repsol E&P USA was formally awarded 45 North Slope ADLs on 1 August 2018: ADLs 393589-393590, 393603-393635, 393639-393646, 393663 and 393664. These areas were originally offered as part of the 2017 Alaska North Slope Areawide lease sale, held on 6 December 2017. Repsol USA was the big winner in the sale, submitting high bids on 45 tracts of 119 parcels offered. The high bids by Repsol brought the average for all bids to about US$ 71,040/sq km, the highest amount in a state lease sale in more than a decade. The contiguous block of 45 newly awarded leases, due to expire on 31 July 2026, lies 6km south-east from the Horseshoe discovery. The Horseshoe-1 and 1A wells, drilled during the 2016-2017 winter campaign, confirmed the Nanushuk play as a significant emerging play in Alaska's North Slope. The Nanushuk area assets are believed to hold at least 500 MMbo and encompass a 2,888 sq km (1,115 sq mi) area. Oil Search said unrisked resource potential is an estimated 1.5 Bbbl. Only NFW Cronus 1 to-date has been drilled on the newly-awarded lease acreage. In May 2006, Pioneer Natural Resources announced the discovery of oil in Cronus 1. A thick, oil-bearing sand section in the Torok and a thin, oil-bearing sand in the Jurassic-aged Kuparuk C Formation were penetrated by the well. However, in August 2006 Pioneer indicated that the hydrocarbon bearing zones were too tight to produce. Following formal award, Repsol E&P USA is now the operator and sole interest-holder (100% WI + Op) in ADLs 393589-393590, 393603-393635, 393639-393646, 393663 and 393664.
Repsol was formally awarded 45 North Slope ADLs: ADLs 393589-393590, 393603-393635, 393639-393646, 393663 and 393664.