Repsol E&P USA Inc. has applied for a 63,304-acre unit on the North Slope. The Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil and Gas said March 23 that Repsol applied to form the Pikka unit between the Colville River unit to the west, the Oooguruk unit to the east and the Placer and Tofkat units to the south.
The majority of the area in the proposal is a subset of the larger 98,852-acre Qugruk unit proposal which Repsol submitted in the fall of 2011. The division only approved a much smaller 12,065-acre Qugruk unit at the northwest corner of the Colville River unit (see map page 23.)
Repsol described the area in its initial Pikka plan of development as “within the Colville Delta area and shallow waters of Harrison Bay,” and a map submitted with the application shows that the proposed unit runs southward from offshore leases in the Beaufort Sea to east of Nuiqsut on the southern end.
The proposed unit covers some 63,304.47 acres in 31 state and joint state-Arctic Slope Regional Corp. oil and gas leases. Repsol, which holds 70 percent working interest in the leases, would be the unit operator. Remaining interest in 30 of the leases is held 22.5 percent by 70 &148 LLC and 7.5 percent by GMT Exploration Co. LLC. One of the leases is held 70 percent by Repsol and 30 percent by 70 &148.
Repsol, a Spanish major, partnered on federal leases in the Beaufort in 2007 and took 93 tracts in the 2008 Chukchi Sea sale.
The company moved onshore in a big way in early 2011, acquiring a 70 percent working interest in North Slope leases held by Armstrong Oil & Gas subsidiary 70 & 148 LLC and GMT Exploration covering 494,211 acres in the White Hills region south of the Kuparuk River unit and near the Oooguruk unit.
Repsol exploration
Repsol has been exploring in the proposed Pikka unit area since 2012, when it drilled the Qugruk No. 2. That well was drilled to 2,525 feet, “encountered a gas kick from the Tuluvak Formation and was abandoned,” the company said.
In 2013 Repsol drilled four wells and two sidetrack horizontal wells. The Qugruk No. 1 was drilled to 7,050 in the Kingak shale. A horizontal sidetrack was also drilled from the Qugruk No. 1 and was fracture stimulated. The Qugruk No. 3 was drilled to 7,500 feet; the Qugruk No. 3A shared the same surface as the No. 3, and the Qugruk No. 6 was drilled to 7,809 feet.
In 2014 Repsol drilled two wells and one sidetrack in the proposed unit area, with the Qugruk No. 5 drilled to 7,430 feet; the Qugruk No. 5A sidetrack drilled, and the Qugruk No. 7 drilled to 7,176 feet.
This year’s work
In its exploration plan Repsol said it would drill three wells during the next five years, including wells it is currently drilling, the Qugruk Nos. 8, 301 and 9.
The Qugruk No. 8 in Section 18 of township 11 north, range 6 east, Umiat Meridian, has an estimated total depth of 5,100 feet and is “being drilled to core and evaluate a potential pay zone,” Repsol said, noting that a production test will be done if there is time.
Qugruk No. 301 has a surface location in section 6, T11N-R6E, UM, and an estimated total depth of 4,146. It is also being drilled to a potential pay zone.
Qugruk No. 9 has a surface location in section 6, T12N-R6E, UM, and an estimated total depth of 7,300 feet. Repsol said the well “is being drilled to a depth sufficient to evaluate a potential pay zone. If time permits a side track will be drilled.”
As for plans forward, Repsol’s Chief Executive Officer Josu Jon Imaz told analysts in a March 2 earnings call that the company will make a decision on whether to pursue development in Alaska early next year.
