Umiat well reaches target depth

The Umiat No. 23H well has reached its target depth, according to its operator.

Linc Energy Ltd. said the horizontal well at the Umiat oil field has reached a total measured depth of 4,100 feet and the company soon plans to conduct a flow test.

The flow test will use an open-hole configuration with a slotted liner requiring no cementing or perforations, according to the company. The company decided to pursue an open-hole configuration for its flow tests at the Umiat field after mechanical problems last winter compromised a planned flow test on the Umiat No. 18 vertical well.

Umiat No. 23H is the first horizontal well at the oil field in the foothills of the Brooks Range Mountains along the border of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.

—Eric Lidji