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ExxonMobil gives gigs for Point Thomson
ExxonMobil said it awarded contracts for work needed to start its drilling program at the Point Thomson oil field in Alaska, despite attempts by the state to take away the company's leases for the field.
Alaska is fighting a legal battle to take the properties from ExxonMobil and its partners, claiming they violated the terms of the leases by not developing the field.
Point Thomson is estimated to hold hundreds of millions of barrels of oil and 8 trillion to 9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, said Reuters.
Exxon said it gave contracts to Nanuq and Alaska Frontier Constructors to build and maintain ice roads and an ice air strip needed to transport the drilling rig, personnel and materials to the site.
"The Point Thomson working interest owners are proceeding with the drilling plan and the project while we seek to resolve the dispute with the State over the Point Thomson Unit," Craig Haymes, Alaska production manager for ExxonMobil, said in a statement.
"We are hopeful that we will resolve the differences to our mutual satisfaction. Even if we cannot do so quickly, we intend to carry out the drilling program as leaseholders."
Exxon and its partners, BP, Chevron and ConocoPhillips, have not drilled on the Point Thomson leases since 1982, but maintain they have met commitments and have turned to the Alaska court system to fight for their leases.
The company previously said it planned to start the development program at Point Thomson this winter.