A joint venture by Chevron Canada Resources and BP Canada Energy has made a quick start to winter drilling in the Canadian Arctic, spudding the season’s first well.
The Olivier H-1 gas exploration well, on Exploration License 422 about 60 miles northwest of Inuvik, Northwest Territories, started drilling on Dec. 19.
Dave Pommer, a spokesman for operator Chevron Canada, told Petroleum News that the well is expected to take 100 days to complete. The targeted depth is not being disclosed.He said a combination of favorable weather and the joint venture’s decision to barge a rig to the region before freeze-up will “allow us to make an earlier start and hopefully finish earlier.”
By positioning equipment and supplies, Chevron Canada believes it can add about seven weeks to the Arctic operating season.
Olivier H-1 will be the major portion of Chevron Canada’s plans to spend about C$100 million in the Mackenzie Delta/Beaufort Sea region this winter.
The program is expected to include two 3-D seismic programs and possibly testing of some earlier wells.
A second well by a partnership of EnCana, Anadarko Canada and ConocoPhillips Canada has been tentatively scheduled to start in December.
