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Vol. 22, No. 42 Week of October 15, 2017
Providing coverage of Alaska and northern Canada's oil and gas industry

P&A of NPR-A wells

Olgoonik to remediate 5 wells drilled west of Umiat by Navy in 1950s

Alan Bailey

Petroleum News

Olgoonik Construction Services has applied to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources for approval of the construction of an ice pad and associated ice road, for staging equipment needed for the plugging and abandoning of five legacy wells in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska in the coming winter. The planned pad and road would be on state land adjacent the Meltwater 2P pad. Olgoonik is in the process of obtaining several other permits needed for the winter project, the company’s draft work plan says.

The P&A work comes as part of a multi-year program being conducted by the federal Bureau of Land Management to deal with wells in the NPR-A that were drilled by the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Geological Survey between 1944 and 1982 - many of the wells were not properly plugged. BLM has contracted Olgoonik to conduct this winter’s well remediation work.

The five wells that Olgoonik plans to tackle are the Wolf Creek Nos. 1 to 3, the Titaluk No. 1 and the Square Lake No. 1. The Wolf Creek wells are about 35 miles west of Umiat; the Titaluk No. 1 well is about 60 miles west of Umiat; and the Square Lake No. 1 well is 31 miles west-northwest of Umiat, according to Olgoonik’s plan. The wells were drilled by the U.S. Navy in 1951 and 1952. In addition to properly plugging and abandoning the wells, the work will include the remediation of drilling and non-drilling waste; field sampling and reporting; and the cleanup and disposal of surface debris, the plan says.

The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has been particularly insistent that legacy wells in the NPR-A be properly plugged and abandoned, to prevent environmental damage. BLM began an NPR-A well remediation program in 2002, having identified a total of about 136 wells that required attention. And, following some glitches in the program, early this year the federal agency signed a memorandum of understanding with the AOGCC for continuing well remediation. That MOU said that less than 80 legacy wells remain to be dealt with.

The work plan

Olgoonik’s plan says that this winter’s work will involve deploying equipment from the 2P pad using off-road vehicles and trailers on a pre-permitted route, west into the NPR-A and then southwest to the area where the wells are located. Work will start at Wolfe Creek No. 2, with crews being flown into a remote landing strip, once the required camp and equipment arrive at the well site. Following completion of the work on the targeted wells, waste collected from the sites will be transported back to the 2P pad for shipment to approved disposal facilities, the plan says.

The Wolfe Creek No. 1 well has five feet of well pipe projecting above the surface, with a hole in the well casing at the ground surface, the plan says. The Wolfe Creek No. 2 has a capped well pipe projecting about four inches above the surface. The Wolfe Creek No. 3 has an open well pipe projecting about six inches above the surface. This well site also has surface debris, with wood pilings, a steel pipe projecting one to three feet above the surface, and a small pile of drilling mud about 810 feet south of the well. The Titaluk No. 1 well has a 10.75-inch diameter casing projecting three feet above the surface, with the casing open to the air and no wellhead structure. There is a wooden surface well cellar around the wellhead, but the site is clean apart from a partially buried drum near the well. The Square Lake No. 1 also lacks a wellhead and has an open 10.75-inch well casing. The casing has been cut off at ground level and is surrounded by a cement collar that projects about one foot above ground. The well has a wood cellar that has been dug into the ground.



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