Aspect Holdings addresses $100B Alaska projection, contested Teshekpuk lease

Aspect Holdings spoke publicly Thursday about its NPR-A lease wins and a contested block near Teshekpuk Lake that remains tied up in ongoing litigation.

The company won eight lease blocks covering 110,000 acres in a Bureau of Land Management sale last year. Seven blocks will move forward once leases are signed. The eighth block, called Cygnus, sits near Teshekpuk Lake and faces legal challenges that have prevented the lease from being finalized.

"Cygnus is the area up by the lake, which, you know, we hope we can develop responsibly and in complete cooperation with the group that is called NTI," Jim Piccone, chief legal officer of Aspect Holdings, said at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference. He referenced ongoing discussions with Nuiqsut Trapping Inc., the Native organization that filed suit to block the lease.

The lawsuit challenges the BLM's decision to offer the Cygnus block for lease, arguing the agency failed to adequately consider impacts on subsistence hunting and wildlife near the ecologically sensitive lake. The case remains pending in federal court with no resolution timeline announced.

Aspect Holdings, operating in Alaska as Epoch Oil and Gas LLC, projects the full development could generate $100 billion in present-value revenue for the state. The figure represents the company's internal analysis of cumulative economic impact including federal revenue sharing, property taxes to the North Slope Borough, and business development.

The company has made prior discoveries in Belize, Hungary and Croatia. Aspect estimates the North Slope holds 20 billion barrels of recoverable oil in remaining areas. The region contains more than 30 shelf-edge delta systems similar to the Pikka and Willow developments.

"The conventional play in the North Slope is like a perfect match for our proprietary seismic," Piccone said. "We are excited to put it to work there."

Aspect has begun coordinating with neighboring operators. The company has held weekly conversations with Bill Armstrong about development in the western blocks, where Aspect won the Draco lease.

The company has not yet received signed leases for the seven uncontested blocks but expects them soon. "We understand they are in the mail and all we have to do is sign them and send them back," Piccone said.