Alaska commission proposes $49,000 fine against Hilcorp for Cook Inlet violations

Alaska regulators have assessed a $49,000 fine against Hilcorp for lapses in Cook Inlet offshore well management.

The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission said on Monday that Hilcorp, the dominant operator in the Cook Inlet basin, failed to meet an annual deadline to discuss its well plugging and abandonment activities. That annual meeting was to have taken place on Dec. 1, the AOGCC said in its order. The earliest date that Hilcorp offered for the meeting was Feb. 17, according to the order.

Hilcorp acknowledged missing the deadline but submitted some written information to address the commission’s concerns and “to ensure all conditions of approval are complied with in the future,” the order said.

The company has 20 days to contest the assessed penalty, the order said.

It was the first enforcement action taken by the AOGCC against Hilcorp this year, according to the commission’s records.

In 2024, however, Hilcorp was the subject of five separate AOGCC orders concerning violations on both the North Slope and in the Cook Inlet basin. The three North Slope cases resulted in penalties of $452,100, $260,477 and $55,000, while the two Cook Inlet cases resulted in fines of $86,000 and $50,000.

Hilcorp, a privately held independent based in Texas, has become one of the two biggest oil producers in Alaska. The company gained that position after taking over fields and assets previously held by BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. BP left Alaska in 2020.

In comparison, ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc., the other major Alaska oil producer, has been the subject of far fewer AOGCC enforcement actions. There were none taken against ConocoPhillips in 2024.

In 2023, however, ConocoPhillips received one of the biggest fines ever assessed by the AOGCC. The commission ordered the company to pay $913,796.80 for numerous violations that led to a 2022 well blowout and release of natural gas in the Alpine oil field.