On July 15, the company submitted a unit plan of operations to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources' Division of Oil and Gas for the development of the portions of its Nanushuk Project that lie within its Pikka unit.

Oil Search's application stayed under wraps while being reviewed by the agency until Aug. 19, when the division posted a 30-day notice regarding the company's request to authorize the Pikka development. Written are comments due by 4:30 p.m., Alaska Standard Time, Sept. 20.

In its plan of operations Oil Search said it intends to fully operate Pikka, including construction and operation of the infrastructure and facilities.

The company had earlier said discussions for possible facilities sharing on the 120,000-barrel-per-day development were taking place with "current North Slope operators." Negotiations were to be completed by the time a Pikka FEED, or front-end engineering and design, decision was made sometime in the second half of this year, which has possibly occurred with the 88-page plan of operations submittal, which does not mention the possibility of shared facilities.

In addition to oil from the prolific Nanushuk formation, the Pikka development will target the Alpine C interval, another of as many as six stacked plays in the unit.

Per the plan of operations, which was submitted by the company's permitting manager Julie Lina, the development will have three drill sites, A (ND-A), B (ND-B) and C (ND-C), with up to 151 production and injection wells (43 at ND-A, 55 at ND-B, and 53 at ND-C). ND stands for Nanushuk Drillsite.

Other infrastructure and facilities within the Pikka unit will include the Nanushuk processing facility, the Nanushuk operations pad, tie-in pad, infield pipelines, import and export pipelines, infield and access roads, a boat ramp and a potable water system. The Oliktok Dock will be used for offloading barges transporting sealift modules to the project.

- Kay Cashman

See story in Aug. 25 issue, available online Friday, Aug. 23, at www.PetroleumNews.com