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State approves Placer well testing plan
AEX plans flow testing in Placer No. 3 well before the end of this winter’s ice road season; would share ice road with Oil Search
Alan Bailey Petroleum News
Alaska’s Division of Oil and Gas has approved an amendment to ASRC Exploration LLC’s plan of operations for the Placer unit, authorizing AEX to conduct flow testing in the Placer No. 3 well. The company is planning eventual production from a Kuparuk C sand reservoir in the unit, which is close to the western edge of the Kuparuk River unit on the North Slope. The idea is to conduct testing of the No. 3 well by the end of this winter’s ice road season.
Ice pad and ice road The project involves constructing an ice pad at the well site and an ice road up to four miles in length that connects with another ice road constructed by Oil Search for one of its winter drilling projects. The ice pad will be approximately 300 feet square and 6 to 18 inches thick, and will house the well testing kit, offices, portable power generators and communication equipment. The plan also involves the use of existing camp facilities at Brooks Range Petroleum Corp.’s Mustang pad to the south.
The division approval notice says that fluids produced from the testing will be stored in secondary containment at the Placer pad before being transported to the Mustang pad for sale or for disposal in an appropriate disposal facility. Similarly, used drilling and completion fluids will be transported to a suitable facility.
Following completion of the testing, the well will be suspended in compliance with Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission regulations, the approval notice says.
Evaluating development models In a recent status report for its Placer project AEX said that it is running a reservoir simulation model for the entire Kuparuk C oil accumulation at Placer. The simulation is assisting in an investigation of development models for the field, including the optimization of well placement and the evaluation of field economics. The company also plans to further investigate the potential use of hydraulic fracturing for improved access to the oil reservoir.
AEX is also evaluating the oil potential in the Nanushuk formation at Placer. An interpretation of 3-D seismic has indicated a major difference in the Nanushuk geologic setting between Placer and the nearby Pikka unit, where Oil Search is developing a major Nanushuk oil find. However, there have been oil shows in the Nanushuk at Placer.
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