Reacting to the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, oil industry regulators in Alaska are launching a "thorough review" of state regulations on blowout prevention equipment and other aspects of well safety.

Among the study topics is whether the state should require companies to drill a relief well concurrently with an offshore or ultra-extended reach well. That idea already has at least one Cook Inlet explorer worried.

The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in late June issued a "notice of inquiry" inviting written comments on whether changes or additions are needed to regulations governing well drilling, control and workovers.

The notice lists 14 points the commission "will examine, without limitation."

"The Commission will conduct a thorough review of all AOGCC regulations applicable to offshore and ultra-extended reach drilling operations to assure the use of safeguards sufficient to prevent losses of well control or to facilitate immediate re-establishment of well control," the notice says.

The notice adds that the commission will hold a public hearing once President Barack Obama's National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling delivers its report on the causes of the Gulf disaster.

"At this hearing, public testimony will be received and the Commission will examine relevant issues in light of the findings and conclusions of the National Commission," the AOGCC notice says.

Fran Ulmer, the University of Alaska Anchorage chancellor, is a member of the national commission.

'JUST BEING PRUDENT'

The April 20 explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon, a Transocean rig drilling an exploration well for BP off the Louisiana coast, has shaken the nation's oil and gas industry.

The catastrophe killed 11 rig workers and unleashed a continuing oil spill. It has raised questions not only about BP's decision-making but also the well's blowout preventer, cementing operations, casing choices and other technical issues. That the rig was working in about 5,000 feet of water is a major consideration for investigators.

BP is drilling two relief wells to try to stop the leak.

Dan Seamount, a geologist and chairman of the three-member AOGCC, said his agency is conducting the inquiry into Alaska regulations because "it's just being prudent." He credited fellow commissioner John Norman with suggesting the inquiry.

It's not that the commission believes current regulations are faulty, Seamount said.

But the AOGCC wants to make sure Alaska regulations are free of loopholes or gaps in light of whatever the Deepwater Horizon panel finds, Seamount said.

Alaska regulations currently call for tests of blowout preventers every seven days or so, and a failed test can halt operations, he noted.

The inquiry will look broadly at whether state regulations are adequate for offshore and ultra-extended reach wells in regions under the commission's jurisdiction, the AOGCC notice indicates.

"Everything is on the table," Seamount said.

BP is planning to drill ultra-extended reach wells from land to its Liberty field beneath the Beaufort Sea.

'KISS OF DEATH'

An executive with one company looking to mount an offshore drilling program in Cook Inlet said requiring companies to drill a relief well together with an exploratory well is worrisome.

"We've had a hard enough time getting one jack-up rig up there, much less two," said Mark Landt, speaking June 29 from Houston.

Landt is vice president of land and business development for Buccaneer Alaska LLC, a subsidiary of Buccaneer Energy Ltd., a publicly traded oil and gas independent based in Sydney, Australia.

Having to employ two rigs obviously would add huge cost to a drilling campaign, and likely would "put the kiss of death" on a project in Cook Inlet, Landt said.

Buccaneer plans to submit comments to the AOGCC emphasizing the big difference between the deep-water Gulf of Mexico and Cook Inlet, where companies long have operated in only about 100 feet of water, he said.

"We think the AOGCC has got a firm set of rules," Landt said. "Any rig we bring up there will have to pass muster."