HEX/Furie has brought in a jack-up rig to Cook Inlet and is getting ready to drill for more natural gas. It’s good news for people living in Southcentral Alaska and as far north as Fairbanks.
HEX Cook Inlet, through its affiliates Furie, and Cornucopia Oil & Gas Company, own natural gas leases, natural gas production, and processing infrastructure.
HEX is the only 100% Alaskan oil and gas company operating in Alaska. Majority owned by John Hendrix of Homer and Anchorage, HEX plans to commence a multi-year infield development program, sidetracking non-performing wells and drilling grass roots wells to access previously untapped natural gas reserves in the Kitchen Lights Unit.
Hendrix, a petroleum engineer, bought Furie out of bankruptcy in 2020 with a $7.5 million loan from Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority that was fully paid off eight months early.
“We are immensely pleased with the progress made by HEX in repaying the loan eight months early,” said Randy Ruaro, Executive Director of AIDEA, at the time of the loan completion in October, 2023.
Drilling at the Kitchen Lights Unit can take place during ice-free periods, which is about seven months of the year in Cook Inlet.
Anchorage is in serious need of natural gas. Enstar Natural Gas Company, which provides the natural gas that heats and lights homes in the city, said it expects the city will be out of locally produced natural gas by 2026, unless action is taken. Last winter, during record cold stretches, the city surpassed supply and Enstar asked residents, governments, and organizations to conserve by turning down thermometers to 65, unplugging unused appliances, and to postpone washing clothes.
Alaska is rich in natural gas but the economics of drilling and production in Alaska are made more difficult by the harsh regulatory environment at the federal level, as well as the incessant lawsuits by environmental nonprofit groups.
“The news that HEX/Furie is in possession of a jack-up rig that could bring new gas to market is exciting. HEX’s ability to add to Cook Inlet production is needed, and with today’s announcement, they are one step closer to doing so,” said Rick Whitbeck, Alaska director for Power The Future. “Reliable, abundant, and affordable power is a necessity in Alaska. Alaskans know that tapping our vast reserves of coal, natural gas and oil will keep the lights on and buildings heated like nothing else can.”
Well some common sense is shown.
Now let’s see who is going to court to stop it.
An astute observation Mark, and one that will prove prophetic. It will not be long in coming.
Cheers
Oh my …….. the 39 different species of beluga are gonna die!
3……..2 ……….
Wow, this is great news! I’ve been waiting (what seems to be far too long) for some solutions to be presented, and I didn’t want to see “importing gas” as one of them!
Thank you for sharing this important article.
John Hendrix is all talk with little to show. He knew exactly what he was buying with Furie and mostly complains about needing royalty relief.
We can only hope he gets lucky with this drill rig.
This is good news.
How interesting that it is not a lack of gas, or resources in general that challenges our state, it’s the idiots that get in the way of bringing them to market. Here’s a suggestion; Everyone, and I mean everyone who gets in the way of these energy producers, shut off their power and gas, no exceptions. Let’s see how they fare through the winter. Maybe then these clowns will change their song.
Bingo! There may be enough idiots out there opposing real solutions to carry us into the future that just by the conservation of them not using ANY energy will make up the difference between running dangerously low verses a productive source to carry everyone else’s needs into the future.
They can all go camp out on the Whitehouse lawn and watch the freak stripper shows.
Those same idiots who complain about the environmental harm due to natural gas didnt squeal when the current Warlord occupying the Whitehouse deliberately blew up the Nordstream pipeline between Russia and Germany spewing raw gas for days/weeks .
Yup! Just like Uncle Joe Vogler used to say, “Let the bastards freeze in the dark.”
According to his Linkedin page, Hendrix has a BSCE (Civil Engineering), and not a degree in Petroleum Engineering, which is a separate and different curriculum. Professional licensing for the two disciplines is quite different as well.
Also please understand that a well drilled is not necessarily a well produced. Further, keep in mind that infill wells are often rate acceleration projects, i.e. they produce known reserves faster but don’t add new reserves.
And finally, everyone should read Escopeta Oil’s (Danny Davis) accusations earlier this year that Hendrix is not operating the KLU in the best interests of the Co-owners, the State of Alaska or it’s residents, and that funds withheld from HEX/Furie’s co-owners were used to pay off the AEIDA loan (and that’s why they are so pleased).
And finally, even if successful, the amount of gas under consideration in this activity is not large enough to make a substantial impact on the current gas crisis in Southcentral Alaska. Maybe there will be good success, but don’t get too excited. Your problems are far from solved. They were caused by kicking the energy can down the road for far, far too long, especially in the hope that large scale North Slope gas will come to the rescue. This never was, nor ever will be, a viable and economic solution for Alaska. So full-speed ahead on imports – it’s the only option left at this late date, and even it has schedule challenges. Pray for warm winters.
And finally used twice.
And finally used twice.
Yes thank you I noticed that after I proofed it twice and then sent it. You just can’t proof your own work. And a note to MRAK: Please bring your website up to current standards which allow a writer to edit his/her comments after publishing. No one wants to look bad, and sometimes people are not quite as sharp as they should be when writing in the wee hours
Oh, and thanks Puppy for fixing your spelling. I’ll bet you’d like to see the edit function as well.
“……..the hope that large scale North Slope gas will come to the rescue. This never was, nor ever will be, a viable and economic solution for Alaska……….”
Why won’t it ever be a “solution”?
With all the coal under Cook Inlet and West of Cook Inlet, there is an abundance of natural gas and even existing, capped wells on the west side. Unfortunately, the timing of this rig is rather untimely:
“Drilling at the Kitchen Lights Unit can take place during ice-free periods, which is about seven months of the year in Cook Inlet.”
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