Chevron plans new Stump Lake drillingCompany hopes to restart gas field on west side of Alaska’s Cook Inlet after some delineation drilling and upgrade of facilities Alan Bailey Petroleum News
After an eight-year shutdown, Chevron is looking into a restart of its Stump Lake gas field on the northwest side of Alaska’s Cook Inlet, about nine miles northeast of Beluga. The field is on state land within the Susitna Flats State Game Refuge at section 33, township 14 north, range 8 west of the Seward meridian.
Chevron’s Stump Lake plans form part of a Cook Inlet development program that includes some new development drilling at the nearby Ivan River gas field. Drilling at both fields will share the rig that ConocoPhillips is using for summer drilling in the Beluga River unit.
In September 2007 John Zager, Chevron Alaska’s general manager, told Petroleum News that Chevron was planning to drill a new well at Stump Lake, based on a new geologic interpretation of the field. And according to Chevron’s Alaska Coastal Management Consistency Plan review application for the Stump River work that Chevron now proposes, the company plans some new delineation drilling in the field.
Pad preparations In October and November, the company will prepare the Stump River pad for the drilling by installing ATCO trailers, pressure testing the gas line from the field and installing some new flow lines and other equipment. And to accommodate the rig at Stump Lake, Chevron will move an existing well house from the well pad.
Chevron plans to start its field delineation efforts by drilling a sidetrack to the existing Stump Lake Unit 41-33 well. Depending on the results of that drilling, the company may opt to drill further wells from the same pad, the company says. Drilling mud and cuttings will be disposed in an Ivan River well that Chevron is converting to a class II disposal well as part of some new development work at that field.
If the delineation drilling at Stump Lake proves successful, Chevron says that it will repair and upgrade the facilities at the field in preparation for resuming gas production. Future development at Stump Lake might include the drilling of additional gas wells and disposal wells, and drilling new water wells, Chevron says.
Comments on Chevron’s Stump River ACMP review application are due on or before Oct. 14.
| 
