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Aurora gets 2-well lease plan approval Wells to be drilled from 2 temporary pads adjacent to Beluga Highway in Susitna Flats State Game Refuge; Theodore River well first KRISTEN NELSON Petroleum News
Aurora Exploration has won approval for a lease plan of operations for two natural gas exploration wells from the Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil and Gas.
The wells, Theodore River No. 2 and Chedatna Lake No. 1, are on the west side of Cook Inlet, some 13 miles northeast of the Beluga River airstrip.
The exploration program includes drilling to natural gas wells and construction of two temporary drilling pads adjacent to the Beluga Highway within the Susitna Flats State Game Refuge.
The division said the Theodore River No. 2 pad will be immediately adjacent to the Beluga Highway and require no access road. The Theodore River site is proposed as a temporary matter and/or gravel fill pad depending on geotechnical soil results.
The division said a nearby Lewis River pad would be used for staging supplies and drilling wastes, minimizing the footprint needed for the temporary Theodore River pad.
The Chedatna Lakes well site will be northeast off the Beluga Highway approximately one mile from the Lewis River D pad. The division said off road travel for the Chedatna Lakes well “will adhere to the goals and principles laid out in the SFSGR management plan,” and also said Aurora “will utilize existing Cook Inlet west side infrastructure whenever possible during the project,” including gravel roads, airstrips, barge landings, landfills, water supplies, heavy equipment and personnel.
Both wells are on lands jointly managed by DNR and the Susitna Flats State Game Refuge.
Aurora Exploration holds the state oil and gas leases for the Theodore River No. 1 well and well pad and for the Chedatna Lakes No. 1 well and pad. The state said Aurora is seeking formal land use agreements with Hilcorp to secure use of Hilcorp’s surface improvements for work at the Chedatna Lakes site.
Fall, winter programs The division said Aurora plans a fall 2015 program for the Theodore River well, with pad construction including either placement of composite mats directly on the ground or in the case of insufficient soil competency or low terrain, placement of two layers of geotextile fabric with one to three feet of gravel fill on top.
The Theodore River site is preferable for fall operations, the state said, because drilling can occur from a pad constructed immediately adjacent to the Beluga Highway, requiring no access road.
Chedatna Lakes will be a winter program, as the Chedatna Lakes NO. 1 well pad is within SFSGR and will be permitted with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. A snow/ice pad was selected for the Chedatna Lake site to reduce the impacted tundra/wetland in the project area, the division said. The proposed well site is approximately one mile northeast of the Beluga Highway; a small gravel fill ramp will be used to connect the existing Lewis River D pad with a snow trail accessing the Chedatna Lake site.
There will be no permanent buildings for the project. Temporary facilities will be placed on the well pads and a small man camp will be will be stationed across the road/trail at the drilling locations for fire safety reasons.
Aurora Exploration applied for approval of the lease plan of operations Aug. 19; the division’s approval is dated Nov. 16. The project milestones in the plan proposed a start date of construction on the Theodore River pad in mid-September and drilling of that well in October through mid-November. Prepacking of the snow route to Chedatna Lakes was proposed to take place in November, with construction of the snow/ice trail to Chedatna Lakes from the Lewis River Pad D in the first half of December, mobilization of the drill rig to Chedatna Lakes the second half of December and drilling of the Chedatna Lakes well in January through mid-February with demobilization at Chedatna Lakes and removal of both pads in March.
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