Teshekpuk Lake Special Management Area Oil and Gas Resource Assessment, National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska

The Teshekpuk Lake Special Management Area (TSMA) has been set aside for special management because of unique environmental values. The TSMA (Figure 2) is in the northeastern quadrant of the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska (NPR-A) around, and including, Teshekpuk Lake, one of the largest lakes within Alaska.

The location of the TSMA places it in an area of high potential for oil and gas resources. The TSMA lies between the producing fields at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska and the Barrow gas fields south of Barrow, Alaska. Oil, although apparently not in economically producible quantities, has been discovered to the northwest of and to the south of the TSMA in the Cape Simpson and Fish Creek areas, respectively.

Several seismic lines cross the TSMA, and five wells have been drilled within the area studied for this report. This exploration data indicates that the area contains potential reservoir rocks, source rocks, and untested structures. These scant exploration efforts, however, are not enough to define the oil and gas potential of the area.