Rutter and Wilbanks Corp. executives think they have a gas discovery at a sidetrack they began drilling about 10 days ago in Alaska’s undeveloped Copper River basin.
“It looks like we have a gas discovery in the upper Nelchina, which was our main objective. We’re getting some real good gas flows,” Bill Rutter III told Petroleum News June 28. His father Bill Rutter Jr. is on-site at the well, which is about 12 miles west of Glennallen and 180 miles north and east of Anchorage. “We’re going ahead and drilling to the second objective, the lower Nelchina, before we set pipe, complete the well … and bring in testing equipment, so it’s a little premature, but we’re encouraged. … We won’t be able to test for rates and draw down until we come back with a perfing gun, probably a wireline-operated perfing gun, and testing apparatus, but it’s the first good news we’ve had in a couple of years.”
Well depth was about 4,350 feet on the morning of the 28th, he said, with another 50 feet or so to get to the lower Nelchina.
Rutter expects to have testing results in about two weeks.
Editor’s note: see full story in the July 1 issue of Petroleum News.
