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Alaska

On the North Slope, Pioneer has made record-setting progress on its Oooguruk oil project. When production is initiated in 2008, Pioneer will become the first independent to operate a producing field in a location previously dominated by major oil companies. In the Cook Inlet offshore southern Alaska, Pioneer is preparing for extensive testing of a horizontal appraisal well recently drilled in the Cosmopolitan field. Pioneer entered Alaska in 2002, recognizing the opportunity to bring an independent's mindset of streamlining processes and reducing costs to a landscape previously dominated by major oil companies who left many medium-sized prospects untapped. Pioneer demonstrated the ability to effectively drill in extreme weather conditions, leading to the discovery of the Oooguruk oil field in 2003.

In 2006, after extensive engineering and geologic evaluations, Pioneer approved Oooguruk as our first field development project in Alaska and immediately launched field development activities.

oooguruk gravel island
To more effectively explore for and develop new fields in Alaska, Pioneer is tackling complex prospects and field development with an emphasis on lowering costs and maximizing recoverable reserves.
The field is five miles offshore in approximately five feet of water, and during 2006 and 2007, a gravel island was built and outfitted with facilities to accommodate development drilling and field operations.

With first oil production from Oooguruk during the second quarter of 2008, the Company became the first independent to operate a producing field on the North Slope. From exploration wells to first production, Pioneer brought Oooguruk online in less than five years – an unprecedented cycle time for a new field of this type on the North Slope.

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