Caelus Natural Resources Alaska LLC has begun construction on its Nuna project.
In the first quarter of this year, the local subsidiary of the Texas based independent installed the Nuna Drill Site 1 pad and an associated access road two miles west of Kuparuk River unit Drill Site 3S, according to a recent plan of development. The company also began permitting Nuna Drill Site 2, planned for a later date.
The project is an expansion of the existing operations at the Oooguruk unit, which is located in the state waters of the Beaufort Seas northwest of the Kuparuk River unit.
Also in the first quarter, the company completed engineering for roads, pads and pipelines, continued engineering for facilities and ordered long lead items. This past winter, the company commissioned a 3-D seismic survey over some 70 square miles.
In the current development cycle, which runs from September 2015 to August 2016, Caelus expects to complete facility design and integration between the new drill site and the existing Oooguruk drill site and Kuparuk River unit facilities. The company also expects to start building modules in early 2016, install flowlines in early 2017 and install production facilities between late 2016 and the scheduled launch of operations in 2017.
The work is part of what Caelus is calling the first phase of the Nuna project, which will access resources too far to reach from the drilling facilities at the existing Oooguruk gravel island. At Nuna, Caelus will drill extended reach wells from a new onshore pad.
The company had initially expressed great enthusiasm in the Nuna project when it acquired the Oooguruk unit from Pioneer Natural Resources Alaska Inc. But after studying the project Caelus determined it needed royalty relief to make the effort economic. Caelus formally sanctioned the project after the state granted the relief.
Three wells last winter
Caelus drilled and hydraulically fractured three horizontal wells into the Oooguruk-Nuiqsut pool this winter - ODSN-43, ODSN-42B and the ODSN-03i injector.
The wells were largely stepping beyond existing developments. The company drilled ODSN-43 is the second expansion area, in the southwest of the unit. ODSN-42B was sidetracked from the existing ODSK-42A well into “an untested area of the eastern Kalubik fault block.” ODSK-42 and the ODSK42A sidetrack had both passed through the Oooguruk-Nuiqsut formation to reach targets in the Oooguruk-Kuparuk formation.
The ODSN-03i began as a production well but was converted to “support high rate producers in the Ivik fault block.” Similarly, Caelus converted the previously drilled ODSN-48i to an injection well, after 15 months of production, to support ODSN-43.
The company also drilled the ODSN-22 well earlier this year, although fracture stimulation work is scheduled for early 2016. And the company recently worked over the ODSN-01 well to repair a casing string damaged during workover activities last year.
Three new injectors
During the current cycle, from August 2015 to August 2016, Caelus proposes to complete ODSN-22 and drill three new injector wells - ODSN-11i, ODSN-06i and ODSN-21i.
ODSN-11i would target the northern-most area of the Colville Delta fault block. ODSN-06i would target the southern row of the Ivik fault block. ODSN-21i would be near ODSN-22 and ODSN-48 in the expansion area, in the southwest corner of the unit. The ODSN-21i injector is scheduled for hydraulic fracture stimulation in early 2017.
Also within the past year, Caelus stimulated the ODSN-19i injection well, which was meant to help the well match higher production rates from recently stimulated producers.
In addition to those wells, Caelus expects to drill and complete one sidetrack this year, although plans depend on scheduling and rig availability. The likely candidates for a sidetrack are ODSN-18, ODSN-29 and ODSN-37, which are spread throughout the unit.
The company is also planning to work over ODSN-28 to repair casing and install an electric submersible pump and between three to five undetermined workover projects.
Kuparuk and Torok
Caelus is planning no activities for the Oooguruk-Kuparuk pool this year.
The company said production “remained strong” from ODSK-14 and ODSK-41, which are supported by the ODSK-38i and ODSK-35Ai injection wells for water flooding.
But the company shut-in the ODSK-33 production well “due to high water-cut and significant hydraulic backout effects” to other wells from the Oooguruk drill site.
The company said it has completed a surveillance program of the water samples returned through Oooguruk-Kuparuk production wells and is beginning to evaluate the results.
Caelus also hasn’t planned any activities for the Oooguruk-Torok pool this year.
The company said development of the formation “progressed as planned.” The ODST-39 well continues to produce, but the company shut-in the ODST-45A sidetrack in May 2014 after an electric submersible pump and a packer vent valve failed. The company is planning to work over the well. Similarly, the ODST-47 well remains shut-in until the company can repair a mechanical failure created during completion activities in 2013.
The horizontal ODST-46i injection well was shut-in for much of the current development cycle “due to close-approach drilling concerns and limited water supply,” Caelus wrote.
