Linc spuds second Umiat well

Linc Energy has spud the Umiat No. 23H well.

The Australian independent spud the horizontal well at the onshore oil field in the foothills of the Brooks Range Mountains on Feb. 15, the company said Feb. 18.

Having drilled the Umiat No. 18 vertical well last winter, Linc is drilling a horizontal well into the same interval to provide “comparative flow testing” of the two approaches.

The notoriously shallow reservoir for the Umiat oil field is partially located in permafrost, which has created technical problems for exploration outfits since the 1940s.

As it did last year, Linc built a 102-mile snow road from the Dalton highway to the Umiat field to support drilling operations, but the road was unnecessary for the early stages of drilling activities. The company cold-stacked the Kuukpik No. 5 drilling rig onsite over the summer, which allowed it to get a head start on exploration activities this winter.

“Our intention is that this season’s drilling results will move some of the reserves to the proven category whilst also firming up our plans to use horizontal drilling techniques to commercially develop this world class billion barrel asset,” Linc CEO Peter Bond said in a statement, adding that the company expect to release results in the first half of the year.

—Eric Lidji