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Anadarko plans wells at Gubik, Chandler Two or more wells to be drilled on ASRC-owned lands near Umiat this winter targeting gas; drilling will be from ice pads Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. has begun the application process to drill for gas at its Gubik and Chandler prospects on Arctic Slope Regional Corp. land near Umiat in Alaska’s Brooks Range Foothills. And as Petroleum News reported earlier this year, the target is gas — these will be the first exploration wells on Alaska’s North Slope to actually target natural gas, although exploration wells targeting oil have found gas.
“The wells are intended to be gas wells,” Anadarko said in its plan of operations, “and will be drilled starting during the 2007-2008 winter season from ice pads.”
Wells planned for the first winter include the 5,000-foot Gubik No. 3 and the 12,500-foot Chandler No. 1. Anadarko said all surface and bottom-hole locations are on ASRC-owned lands; directional drilling may be used for one or more of the wells.
“The sequence and timing of additional wells will depend on the results of previous wells,” the company said.
Anadarko said the planned drilling operations are along the east side of the Colville River near Umiat. Six proposed drilling locations at the Chandler prospect are southeast of Umiat. Six proposed Gubik prospect locations are northeast of Umiat.
Anadarko said access to the wells will initially be by rolligon trail from the Kuparuk River unit to the Gubik area. The rolligon trail will be used to haul the drilling rig and supplies to the site during initial mobilization in November and December.
Ice road and pad construction will begin as soon as permits and weather conditions permit, and could be in November or December. Drilling will begin once the ice pad has been constructed and the rig is set up — either in late December or early January, the company said.
One well is planned at each of the prospects in the 2007-08 winter drilling season.
Anadarko said the rig may be stored on an insulated ice pad over the summers between winter drilling or it may be stored on existing gravel pads at Umiat.
Two staging areas There will be two staging areas, one at Kuparuk River unit drill site 2P and the other at Umiat.
Anadarko said an ice pad approximately 500 feet by 500 feet will be constructed next to drill site 2P and will be used for staging the rolligon operations. There is access to drill site 2P via all-season roads connecting to the Dalton Highway. There will be a small camp placed on the ice staging pad at drill site 2P and rolligons will travel over a snow trail approximately 55 miles to the Gubik prospect.
The Umiat staging area will be connected to the Gubik and Chandler drill sites by ice roads and will be “a major logistic center for the operations” during drilling. There are existing facilities and fuel storage at Umiat, and a 5,400-foot runway suitable for cargo and passenger aircraft.
Access to the drilling sites during summer will be primarily by helicopter.
Anadarko said the rolligon trail will be used to mobilize the drilling rig “and be the primary logistics support until the ice roads can be constructed between Umiat and the drilling locations.” The rolligon trail will also be used to transport equipment and supplies to the site during drilling “and for backhauls of materials and wastes from the drilling locations back to existing North Slope infrastructure.”
Up to 35 miles of ice roads established each year connecting the various well sites to Umiat will cross a number of streams, including the Colville and Chandler rivers. Ice road construction will begin at Umiat in late November or early December and ice road construction is expected to be completed by late December or early January.
Wells from ice pads Anadarko and its partners BG and Petro-Canada hold oil and gas rights covering some 2.2 million acres between the Canning and Colville rivers along the southern border of the North Slope. Mark Hanley, Anadarko’s top official in Alaska, told Petroleum News earlier this year that the Gubik leases are part of that partnership.
Anadarko said six potential exploratory well locations have been selected for each prospect and drilling will be from an ice pad up to 600 feet by 600 feet.
Drilling will be done with Nabors rig 105, a new lightweight drilling rig under construction in Canada and scheduled for delivery to the North Slope in December. Hanley told Petroleum News earlier in the year that rig 105 is designed to be broken down into modules for transportation by rolligon.
Production tests may be performed, as needed, after production casing is set, the company said. “Testing may include extended flow periods to determine the productivity of the well.”
There will be camp facilities at the ice staging pad at drill site 2P, at the drilling sites and at existing facilities at Umiat, including a 50-man camp at 2P and a temporary 20- to 30-man camp at the Gubik drilling site which will be replaced by a 60- to 70-man rig camp for drilling. Additional camp facilities are available at Umiat.
The U.S. Geological Survey has estimated that the Gubik field holds some 600 billion cubic feet of recoverable gas; it was discovered by the U.S. Navy more than 50 years ago during oil exploration.
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