Pantheon’s Alkaid 2 well work advances
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Kay Cashman Petroleum News
In a Sept. 26 operations update on the Alkaid 2 well on Alaska’s North Slope, Pantheon Resources plc said operator Great Bear Pantheon, or GBP, completed stimulation of the horizontal well and that a workover rig was enroute to the well ahead of flow testing.
Only one hiccup in the company’s plans to flow test Alkaid 2 in early October has occurred and that was when GBP’s Aug. 22 request to do nine months of flaring gas associated with long-term testing of the well resulted in the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission deciding that because of the unusual length of the flaring, a public hearing was necessary.
In a public notice issued Sept. 14, Jeremy Price, then-AOGCC chair and commissioner, said typical requests for flaring authorization for testing are for a few weeks and GBP’s request was for longer than any approval the commission has ever granted.
“Due to the unique nature of the request the AOGCC has decided to hold a public hearing on this matter before rendering a decision.”
The hearing will be Oct. 27 at 10 a.m. in the commission’s Anchorage offices.
In the Aug. 22 request, Michael Duncan, GBP’s chief operating officer, said that “Great Bear intends to conduct a long-term pilot production test to determine if the well, and more specifically the target formation, will be capable of producing at sufficient sustained volumes to support a development program of the target formation.” (See story titled “GBP needs lengthy Alkaid 2 flare approval; AOGCC schedules hearing” in the Sept. 25 issue of Petroleum News.)
Pantheon confident In its Sept. 26 update Pantheon said the hearing “is part of the normal process for a long-term pilot production test as the AOGCC must determine when the project is considered to transition from testing a new formation to entering regular production. AOGCC regulations state that gas flaring is permitted during testing but must be limited during regular production operations. The hearing is not anticipated to delay or curtail planned testing operations.”
Pantheon also said that the workover rig is expected to arrive on location over the next week to 10 days to install production tubing prior to commencing flow testing operations. A significant amount of fluid was introduced into the well during stimulation procedures which will return first during the “clean-up phase,” prior to the subsequent commencement of oil production later in October, if successful, the company said.
Pantheon had contracted with Schlumberger several months ago to complete a detailed dynamic 3D subsurface visualization of its various North Slope projects.
In its Sept. 26 operations update, Pantheon said the work by Schlumberger was “advancing well. The information obtained will be used by the Company for its own analysis and will also be included in the data room which Pantheon intends to reopen subsequent to the completion of flow tests, in order to consider possible farm out partners for future project advancement.”
In regard to GBP’s completion of the stimulation program for Alkaid 2, Pantheon CEO Jay Cheatham said: “This is the second of two very important milestones for Pantheon this year and a significant step toward potential commercialization of our discoveries on the North Slope. Pantheon has now drilled a horizontal well exceeding 5,000 feet through our target formation from a gravel pad along the Dalton Highway and successfully executed 30 stimulation treatments over that horizontal length.
“Our intention with the long-term pilot production test is to maximize our data collection which, coupled with the upcoming Schlumberger report, will be invaluable to our understanding of the Alkaid interval as well as our wider portfolio of projects. We look forward to updating the market with the initial results of the flow test in due course,” Cheatham said.
Pantheon has a 100% working interest in all of its oil projects spanning some 153,000 acres adjacent and near to transportation and pipeline infrastructure on Alaska’s North Slope.
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