Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission report: January 2018

Eric Lidji

Petroleum News

*On Jan. 9, the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission granted (Conservation Order No. 341F.007) a request from BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. to modify four rules from Conservation Order No. 341F at the Prudhoe Bay unit. The rules cover bottom-hole pressure surveys, gas-oil contact monitoring, production logging and gas-oil ratio limits.

The changes largely reduce the number of surveys BP is required to run at the unit. The extent of prior development has provided significant information about data points in those areas, according to BP, and the required number of surveys is no longer necessary.

*On Jan. 22, the AOGCC approved (Docket Number: CO-17-016) a request from Hilcorp Alaska LLC to redefine the vertical boundaries of the Ninilchik Beluga/Tyonek Gas Pool to accommodate new information gleaned from the Kalotsa No. 4 well.

The change deepens the lower boundary of the Ninilchik Beluga/Tyonek Gas Pool by approximately 250 vertical feet, “allowing more efficient development of all Tyonek gas resources, improving resource recovery, and reducing administrative burden while preventing waste and protecting correlative rights,” according to the AOGCC.

A hearing on the matter included comments from Don Shaw, a neighboring landowner who claimed an infringement on his correlative rights from the Frances No. 1 well. In the recent ruling, the AOGCC presented its counterargument, challenging Shaw’s claim.

*On Jan. 31, the AOGCC approved (Docket Number: CO-16-019) a request from Hilcorp to form the new Kuparuk Oil Pool at the Northstar unit. The pool is defined as “the accumulation of hydrocarbons common to, and correlating with, the interval between the measured depths of 12,156 and 12,446 feet on the resistivity well log recorded in development well Northstar (NS) NS-15,” according to the AOGCC ruling.

The pool includes Kuparuk A and Kuparuk C sands. Although the two sands are not in communication, the AOGGC felt that comingling the two sands would lead to greater recovery, given the small size of the Kuparuk A sand and its proximity to Kuparuk C.

- ERIC LIDJI