State OKs Whiskey Gulch participating area
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First gas well online in October; Hilcorp plans exploration well, additional testing of coalbed methane potential at WG and Seaview
Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources' Division of Oil and Gas has approved an application from Hilcorp Alaska for formation of the Whiskey Gulch participating area within the Seaview unit on the southern Kenai Peninsula. Division Director Derek Nottingham approved the PA formation Feb. 25.
Hilcorp is 100% working interest owner of the 160-acre PA, which has an effective date of Nov. 1, 2025.
Whiskey Gulch is currently producing from a single gas well, Whiskey Gulch 1, drilled in 2021 as a directional exploration well targeting oil. The well drilled into the West Foreland Formation at a measured depth of 10,271 feet. While the exploration for oil was unsuccessful, a shallow gas sand in the Tyonek produced 14.67 million standard cubic feet of natural gas over four days.
The division said the well was shut in until facilities and pipelines could be installed.
Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission records show regular production from the field began in October; AOGCC production data for January shows Whiskey Gulch 1 remains the only well in production at the PA.
Drilling Two other exploration wells have been drilled at Whiskey Gulch, as well as stratigraphic tests.
Whiskey Gulch 14 was directionally drilled in 2022 through the Tyonek to a measured depth of 8,013 feet. Whiskey Gulch 15 was directionally drilled to a shallower measured dept of 6,390 feet into the Tyonek formation.
The division said that based on confidential well data submitted by Hilcorp, it determined that the proposed PA "encompasses only lands that are reasonably known to be underlain by hydrocarbons or that, through geological, geophysical, or engineering analysis, are known or reasonably estimated to be capable of producing or contributing to production in paying quantities."
The PA "is delineated by the calculated drainage area surrounding the currently perforated and tested productive gas interval of the Whiskey Gulch No. 1 well," based on "confidential well test data and standard petroleum engineering methodologies."
The division said Hilcorp plans an exploration well and the completion of additional testing on coalbed methane potential at Whiskey Gulch and Seaview. As of Feb. 25, AOGCC drilling records show no new Whiskey Gulch wells permitted.
Whiskey Gulch facilities The Whiskey Gulch pad and road date from 2021. A 6-inch natural gas pipeline connects existing production to the Enstar natural gas transmission pipeline. The 2.75-acre Whiskey Gulch pad is on private surface lands at the end of Cape Ninilchik Avenue about 1 mile east of the Sterling Highway.
Production facilities at Whiskey include an enclosed separator package, a 200-barrel produced water tank, an enclosed compressor package, an enclosed glycol dehydration package, a control building and a utility building.
Seaview The division approved the sixth plan of development for the Seaview unit in July for August through October, and in October extended that POD approval through July 2026.
For the unit, Hilcorp was evaluating the potential to drill a well to test a potential structural high to the north. The company was also evaluating adding perforations to the Seaview 8 and 9 wells and evaluating the potential for data collection and coalbed methane testing at Seaview 8 and 9, work which the division said might include a workover, perforations, injectivity test and production assessments, as well as pursuing facility improvements through well, infrastructure and facility repairs as needed.
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