Marathon in Alaska: A little less drilling.
Marathon cuts Alaska gas drilling
US oufit Marathon Oil cut its Alaska natural gas production well drilling programme by about 50% this year, according to a company source.
About four to five new wells will be drilled in Marathon's Alaska producing properties this year, down from nine last year.
"The current market situation has forced companies to prioritize capital programmes. The Alaska region (of Marathon) is no exception," Carrie Lockhart, Marathon's Alaska production manager, said in an Alaska Journal of Commerce report.
Drilling planned this year will be in the Marathon-operated Beaver Creek, Kenai and Ninilchik gas fields, Lockhart said.
The company is working on a new exploration project east of the Swanson River field on the Kenai Peninsula, but it will take several years to bring that gas into production if the test wells are successful.
Marathon operates nine fields in southcentral Alaska and produces roughly 140 million cubic feet day.