A bit of news that should pique the interest of anyone seeking to estimate Cook Inlet's natural gas resources.
According to several sources, after 58 years of operating in Alaska, Marathon Oil announced Monday the signing of a definitive agreement to sell substantially all of its Alaska assets to Hilcorp Energy's Alaska subsidiary.
The announcement says the assets being sold include 17 million barrels of oil equivalent of net proved reserves across 10 fields in Cook Inlet, plus natural gas storage and interests in natural gas pipeline transmission systems. The sale does not include Marathon's onshore drill rig, which is being offered separately.
In 2011 net production averaged approximately 93 million cubic feet of natural gas per day and 112 barrels of oil per day, the release says. Marathon Oil had approximately 12.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas in storage at the end of 2011.
The sale has an effective date of Jan. 1, 2012, but the parties expect to close the deal sometime this fall, pending government and regulatory approval.
Marathon's Alaska asset manager Wade Hutchings told The Associated Press that the decision to sell is the result of the company's strategic focus on liquid-rich resource plays.
He said that most of Marathon's 62 Alaska employees will be retained by Hilcorp and that others will be transfered to other Marathon operations.
Read the release, here. Read more from Platts, here, and from the AP, here.