A new company looking to drill for oil on the southern Kenai Peninsula could begin operations as soon as this summer.
Fort Worth, Texas-based BlueCrest Energy made the announcement in January, and had more detailed plans about its operations this week for the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly. Larry Burgess, the health, safety and environmental manager for BlueCrest says initial production will be trucked more than 40 miles from the site in Anchor Point to Nikiski for refining and shipping.
“We know that transporting oil via truck is the most dangerous and risky way to transport crude oil. So, in the early days, the first year or two, we will be using trucks. There might be one or two or three a day. But if we were to transport all of our oil during full production, which is estimated at over 17,000 barrels a day, that would be a truck about every 45 minutes and I think that might have an impact on the highway.”
Burgess says early plans to drill water wells near the site have been scrapped after Anchor Point residents balked at the idea of losing 10,000 gallons of water per day out of their aquifer.
“So, after some discussion, we decided to not drill any water wells. We will haul water from Anchor Point or Homer, and will not have any impact on that aquifer.”
The site will eventually have 20 onshore wells. Burgess says some 300 workers will be needed during construction, with 50 positions needed over the span of the 20 to 30 year project. A series of public meetings is scheduled for June 9th, 10th and 11th in Anchor Point, Homer and Ninilchik.
Shaylon Cochran is a host and reporter at KDLL in Kenai. He’s reported on fishing, energy, agriculture and local politics since coming to Alaska in 2011. He has worked at KDLL/KBBI on the Kenai Peninsula, where he picked up lots of new hobbies, like smoking salmon, raising chickens, skiing and counting RV’s. He holds a bachelors degree in Journalism from Iowa State University.
