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10 years ago this week
Editor's note: "This Week in Alaska Business History" revisits events that shaped our past.
Feb. 8, 1993
FDIC auction attracts the bargain hunters
By Rose Ragsdale
Investors, speculators and amateurs crowed into the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s auction room in Anchorage Jan. 30 seeking bargains in raw and improved property.
And about half of the 170 bidders that registered for the sale walked away with parcels from Ninichik to North Pole.
Of the 103 parcels offered in the federal regulatory sale, 93 were sold for bids as low as several hundred dollars an acre. In all, the FDIC collected $1,748,000 in the all-cash auction.
Most of the properties were sold absolute, with no minimum bid required.
FDIC spokesman Lee Kutlich said the public's interest in the auction proved to be strong and may have been fueled by the recent positive news about oil exploration in Cook Inlet.
He said the agency is considering holding another auction in May to sell more improved land, some houses and possibly some commercial buildings.
In the mid-1980s, the FDIC controlled nearly $1.5 billion in Alaska loans, real estate and other assets acquired from failed financial institutions. Today, less than $335 million in assets remain, and FDIC officials have intensified efforts to sell the remainder during the next 18 months.
Feb. 8, 1993
Arco will develop Inlet field
By Kristen Nelson
For the Alaska Journal of Commerce
A commercial quantity of oil and gas exists in northern Cook Inlet, and Arco Alaska Inc. and Phillips Petroleum are going in after it.
A discovery at the North Foreland State 1 well, some 30 miles south of Anchorage, confirms the 1991 discovery at the nearby Sunfish 1.
According to James M. Davis, Arco's senior vice president for exploration and land, Arco and its partner, Phillips, now believe the discovery is commercial and are making plans to develop the field. While the ultimate accumulation size is not yet known, it is expected one or two new production platforms will be required, Davis said.
"We think this discovery, now that it has been proven economic, well justifies our faith in Alaska as a prospective area for exploration and production," Davis said. "We're excited about this development and we are anxious to begin development on acreage we acquired at this week's (Jan. 26) lease sale."
North Foreland results indicate a cumulative flow of 3,610 barrels of oil per day from three zones on separate tests. Three million cubic feet of gas per day also were recorded. The North Foreland well reached a total depth of 17,770 feet. The well was drilled and tested between April and November 1992 at a cost of over $35 million.
-- Compiled by Ed Bennett.
