NOW READ OUR ARTICLES IN 40 DIFFERENT LANGUAGES.
HOME PAGE SUBSCRIPTIONS, Print Editions, Newsletter PRODUCTS READ THE PETROLEUM NEWS ARCHIVE! ADVERTISING INFORMATION EVENTS PAY HERE

Vol. 27, No.40 Week of October 02, 2022
Providing coverage of Alaska and northern Canada's oil and gas industry

PODs approved, contraction dates extended

Click here to go to the full PDF version of this issue, with any maps, photos or other artwork that appears in some of the articles.

State OK’s plans of development Eni’s Nikaitchuq and Oooguruk units; allows more time for drilling outside participating areas

Kristen Nelson

Petroleum News

In August the Alaska Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Oil and Gas approved plans of development for Eni’s two North Slope units, Nikaitchuq and Oooguruk, and in late September the division approved requested delays for contraction for the units.

The PODs, for Oct. 1 through Sept. 31, 2023, were approved Aug. 16 by Derek Nottingham, director of the division.

Nikaitchuq

The Nikaitchuq unit was formed in 2004 and the Schrader Bluff participating area approved effective Jan. 1, 2011. Sustained production began Jan. 31, 2011.

Nottingham said Eni has completed 30 wells, 24 additional producing lateral wellbores and 22 injectors. Full development of the OA Schrader Bluff sands will consist of 33 production wells and 26 injection wells, “with potential for more wells,” he said.

Production comes from two drilling locations, the Spy Island Drillsite and the Oliktok Point Pad and is handled on the Oliktok Point Pad.

During the 2021 POD, the five wells which were planned were drilled, along with two additional laterals.

During the 2022 POD, three new wells and one additional lateral are planned.

The electrical power sharing project to interconnect Nikaitchuq with Oooguruk “is funded and engineering is in progress with an expected start date in 2024,” Nottingham said.

Oooguruk

The Oooguruk unit was formed in 2003. Eni succeeded Caelus Natural Resources Alaska as operator in 2019. There are three participating areas: Nuiqsut, Kuparuk and Torok, with production commingled and processed at the Kuparuk River unit.

During the 2021 POD Eni did two rig workovers deferred from 2020, and the partial gas processing project “was approved for construction and startup is forecast for last 2023,” Nottingham said. The electrical power sharing project to interconnect Nikaitchuq and Oooguruk was approved.

For the 2022 POD, seven rig workovers are planned, including recompletions and pump replacements, along with one new well. The partial gas processing and electrical sharing projects will progress with engineering and fabrication.

Contractions delayed

Ten years after first production, units must contract to lands within participating areas - the areas from which production is occurring - and lands facilitating production.

Eni applied for a delay in contraction for both the Nikaitchuq and Oooguruk units.

Nottingham approved both delays Sept. 26, with both delays approved through Sept. 30, 2024.

At Nikaitchuq, the company “provided evidence that the Schrader Bluff reservoir extends outside the current participating area, and has described long-term plans to drill wells in this area,” he said. “If these wells are drilled and productive, then it is likely the surrounding area would be included in the SBPA.”

Nottingham said the division, having considered regulatory provisions, “finds that delay of contraction of the NU promotes the conservation of natural resources by production through existing facilities in the NU, promotes the prevention of economic and physical waste by preventing stranded resources, and provides for the protection of all parties” by preserving Eni’s right to develop the area that might be contracted out of the unit and preserving the state’s right to contract the unit if Eni does not develop the area.

At Oooguruk, where production began in 2008, the division had already delayed contraction of the unit until Sept. 30, 2022.

Nottingham said the company “provided evidence that hydrocarbon resources extend on to leases within the OU outside the boundaries of the current participating areas, and has described long-term plans to drill wells in this area.” If those wells are drilled and are productive, “it is likely the surrounding areas would be included in a participating area,” he said.

The reasons for delaying contraction are the same for Oooguruk as for Nikaitchuq - preserving Eni’s right to develop as well as preserving the state’s right to contract the unit if Eni does not develop the area outside the current PAs.



Print this story | Email it to an associate.






Petroleum News - Phone: 1-907 522-9469
[email protected] --- https://www.petroleumnews.com ---
S U B S C R I B E

This story has 854 words, takes 2 min. to speedread and it is 2064 pixels high.