Oooguruk field continues to perform well

Pioneer Natural Resources’ Oooguruk field in state Beaufort Sea waters, offshore Alaska’s North Slope, continues to perform well, said Timothy Dove, the company’s president and chief operating officer, during an investor conference call on Nov. 4. The field is producing oil at around 6,000 barrels per day, he said.

Oooguruk production will probably increase by about 10 percent between the fourth quarter of 2009 and the fourth quarter of 2010, said Scott Sheffield, chairman and chief executive officer.

During the summer Pioneer successfully completed the drilling of five horizontal wells — three producers and two injectors — in the Nuiqsut, the deeper of the two Oooguruk reservoir horizons, Dove said. And currently the company is waiting for the winter freeze up before embarking on a drilling campaign in the deeper Kuparuk horizon, he said.

In early 2010, Pioneer expects to initiate a project to provide an independent source of water for injecting into the Oooguruk reservoir, said Richard Dealy, Pioneer executive vice president and chief financial officer. Oooguruk currently obtains water from the nearby Kuparuk River unit, operated by ConocoPhillips, but in early 2009 that water supply went off line for several weeks while ConocoPhillips conducted repair work on the water line.

Pioneer currently estimates that Oooguruk should produce between 120 million and 150 million barrels of oil.

—Alan Bailey