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BRPC, ConocoPhillips spud ANS wells Brooks Range spuds second exploration well of season; ConocoPhillips starts work on Char, gets permits for Spark Eric Lidji Petroleum News
Tuesday, Feb. 12 proved to be a good day for North Slope exploration, as Brooks Range Petroleum Corp. and ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. both spud wells in the western edge of the central North Slope.
Brooks Range Petroleum spuds Tofkat BRPC spud the Tofkat No. 1 well Feb. 12 according to Hillary McIntosh, manager of business development and external affairs for the company.
Tofkat No. 1 sits due east of the village of Nuiqsut along the east side of the Colville River.
McIntosh said the company has made “Herculean efforts” to involve the village of Nuiqsut in the drilling program, including community meetings and tours of work camps for area students. She said several residents are employed on the project.
BRPC is drilling Tofkat No. 1 using the Nabors rig 27E.
The well is the first new exploration well of the season for BRPC and the second exploration well overall this year. The company recently completed drilling efforts it started last winter on the North Shore No. 1 well in Gwydyr Bay.
Depending on the results of Tofkat No. 1, BRPC will either use the rig to drill a sidetrack well or move it northeast to drill another well in Gwydyr Bay called North Shore No. 3.
BRPC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Alaska Venture Capital Group, is running its winter exploration program on behalf of a joint venture with TG World Energy Inc., the Nabors subsidiary Ramshorn Investments Inc. and Bow Valley Alaska Corp.
The group plans to drill two more exploration wells this winter.
ConocoPhillips spuds Char ConocoPhillips spud the Char No. 1 well on Feb. 12. The well sits in the Colville unit northwest of Alpine, about one mile south of ConocoPhillips’ 2005 Iapetus exploration well and 12 miles north of the village of Nuiqsut.
ConocoPhillips viewed the Iapetus prospect as a potential Alpine satellite, specifically as a new discovery or an extension of the Fiord prospect, but ultimately plugged and abandoned the well.
Now, ConocoPhillips plans to use Char No. 1 to test flow rates in the area, according to Erec Isaacson, vice president of land and exploration for ConocoPhillips Alaska.
“When we drilled the Iapetus well in the past ... we didn’t actually get a flow test,” Isaacson said. “When you take a look at a lot of the stuff we’re chasing with these satellites, you’re not looking at a substantial reserve base. So as a result we need to get some flow tests” to gauge the economics of the project.
ConocoPhillips also made headway on the Spark Down Dip 9 exploration well, getting a drilling permit for the well on Feb. 1 from the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.
Spark DD-9 is in the new Greater Mooses Tooth unit in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The well will help satisfy U.S. Bureau of Land Management initial development requirements for the new unit.
ConocoPhillips will spud Spark DD-9 using the same rig currently working on Char No.1
The company hopes to spud Spark DD-9 on March 12, but said the date is contingent on the progress at Char.
ConocoPhillips also got an AOGCC drilling permit for the Spark DD-9A exploration well on Feb. 4.
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