State clears Cook Inlet and North Slope seismic surveys for public release

Three previously confidential seismic surveys from Cook Inlet and the North Slope can be released to the public no sooner than 30 days after a July 1 state notice.

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources' Division of Oil and Gas said in the notice it "will release and make

available to the public the following exploration data and information, as submitted to the Division, no less

than 30 days following this notice." The division said it is providing the notice under AS 43.55.025(f)(2)(C).

The list covers Apache Alaska Corporation's Deep Creek 2D test line and Gray Cliff 2D lines in Seward Meridian townships in Cook Inlet. It also covers the Great Bear 2014 3D survey, shot by CGGVeritas Land (U.S.) Inc. across Umiat Meridian townships on the North Slope. The surveys were collected under the state exploration tax credit program, which requires eventual public release.

The releases are part of a broader effort to open state-held, tax credit-supported seismic data from the North Slope and Cook Inlet for exploration and research. The likely users are specialized. They include companies actively exploring for or producing oil and gas, which use the data to evaluate basins and reduce exploration risk, and accredited research institutions studying Alaska petroleum geology. A bill introduced in the Alaska State House, HB 257, would make Cook Inlet seismic and other geophysical data held by the department available without charge to such "qualified persons." The measure carves out cases where confidentiality statutes apply or where a private owner has not agreed to release well data.

How to get the data

The division does not distribute the data itself. The Geologic Materials Center in Anchorage handles that, and the division says preparation of large and complex datasets can take upward of one year.

The data covers basins whose output is moving in opposite directions, which is part of why the datasets matter to companies weighing new work. The department's Fall 2025 Oil Production Forecast reported that Cook Inlet oil production fell about 8 percent in fiscal year 2025. North Slope oil production rose about 1.5 percent over the same period.