Chevron Corporation, BP plc and ConocoPhillips are also the leaseholders in the Point Thomson field.
The first Point Thomson well, PUT-15, was also drilled to a similar depth of depth of 4,875 feet.
The Nabors Alaska Drilling Co. rig 27-E at the location is now being shifted into site on the first well so that drilling can restart in early winter, an ExxonMobil manager said.
As per a agreement with the state Department of Natural Resources, both wells are to be completed by December 2010.
The gas cycling project is expected to be placed into production by 2014, producing 10,000 barrels of day of gas condensates that will be shipped by pipeline to Prudhoe Bay and blended with crude oil in the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. Natural gas produced will be injected back underground until a gas pipeline is constructed to the North Slope.
ExxonMobil has designed the project in such a way that it can either be Expanded to produce additional condensates if the gas cycling works as expected, or that facilities can be used in conventional gas production if reservoir problems prevent an expansion of condensate production.
ExxonMobil is in discussions with the state Department of Natural Resources on issues remaining in a dispute over prior development obligations at Point Thomson.
Point Thomson field holds an estimated eight trillion cubic feet of gas and 200 million barrels of condensates.
The project will also determine the feasibility of commercial production of crude oil deposits present in the field, the company has said in past briefings.
