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AOGCC: No action needed on Oooguruk After hearing on water shortage, lower production, commission finds no evidence ultimate recovery harmed; Pioneer looks at options Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
Pioneer Natural Resources said in an August earnings call that its Oooguruk unit production was below what it should be because it was not able to obtain the volumes of seawater it needed for injection from the Kuparuk River unit.
Pioneer had reported the same issue to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in a March reservoir report, the commission said in a Dec. 21 order closing a docket it opened on the issue.
The commission held a hearing Oct. 25, asking both Pioneer and ConocoPhillips Alaska, the Kuparuk River unit operator, to present testimony on the issue.
The commission said that Pioneer’s injection water is surplus seawater obtained from the Kuparuk River unit “on an as-available basis via a connection into the Kuparuk River Unit seawater distribution system near Drillsite 3A.” The location of the connection limits Pioneer to surplus seawater from the Central Processing Facility 3 area of Kuparuk, the commission said, and surplus seawater in other portions of Kuparuk is not available to Oooguruk.
Average shortage Pioneer testified that oil production from Oooguruk is about 1,000 barrels per day less than it could be because of the shortage in the amount of seawater available for injection as part of the enhanced oil recovery at the field.
The commission said “Pioneer does not believe waste of resources is occurring but rather recovery is being deferred.”
Pioneer said the Oooguruk-Kuparuk oil pool is approximately 4 million barrels behind full reservoir replacement; the Oooguruk-Nuiqsut oil pool is some 400,000 barrels behind full replacement.
Pioneer told the commission it expects to make up for the under injection. The company said it is looking into several options to maintain more water from Kuparuk.
Kuparuk needs met first ConocoPhillips Alaska told the commission that seawater is available for other units only when the supply of seawater from the Kuparuk Seawater Treatment Plant exceeds Kuparuk’s needs. The Colville River unit also obtains seawater from Kuparuk.
The commission said Oooguruk and Colville tie into the Kuparuk seawater distribution system at different points so they are not competing for the same supply of water.
The commission also received written comments claiming that the only reason Oooguruk has insufficient seawater is that the Oooguruk unit owners are unwilling to pay the price Kuparuk charges for surplus seawater.
Prudent operations The commission said that there is no evidence supporting the written public comment that the reason for the injection shortfall is unwillingness by the Oooguruk owners to pay the asking price for surplus water from Kuparuk, and noted that Pioneer is examining options that would allow them to obtain additional water from Kuparuk.
And the commission said it does not believe recovery is being harmed: “There is no evidence to indicate that ultimate recovery is being harmed at this time or is likely to be harmed in the foreseeable future or that the deferred production will not be recovered at a later date.”
“Pioneer is operating the Oooguruk Unit in a prudent manner,” the commission said. It also said that ConocoPhillips Alaska “is behaving as a prudent operator” by making sure that Kuparuk seawater needs are met before making seawater available to others.
The commission concluded that there is no action it needs to take at this time.
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