|
AOGCC issuing drilling permits faster now As part of streamlining process, oil and gas conservation commission plans to issue permits electronically within two years Kristen Nelson Petroleum News Editor-in-Chief
The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, the state agency responsible for subsurface regulation of the state's oil and gas operations, has been streamlining its permitting and plans to issue permits electronically within two years.
Commissioners Randy Ruedrich and Dan Seamount told the Alaska chapter of the International Association of Drilling Contractors April 24 that the commission is issuing permits faster now — when it is relatively busy — than it did in 1999 when drilling activity in the state was relatively slow.
Ruedrich said that in 1999, when the commission was not very busy, it took about 15 days to turn a drilling permit around and they handled approximately 20 in a quarter. Recent approval time peaked in the third quarter of 2001. It took, Ruedrich said, an average of 31 days to turn a drilling permit around in that quarter; 61 permits were issued. In the most recent quarter, with 55 drilling permits, the turnaround time averaged nine days.
Seamount said the commission's workload has increased over the past 40 years.
Drilling permits peaked at more than 300 in 1985, reflecting Kuparuk River field development in addition to continuing drilling at Prudhoe Bay. “Last year,” Seamount said, “we had the third-highest number of permits go through the office in Alaska history. The year before was the fourth highest” with 260 permits.
The number of active reservoirs in the state has also increased through the years, “which means our geologists and engineers are going to be more active.” Active wells increased by 111 last year, and active wells are those commission inspectors oversee, Seamount said.
And in the last few years the commission's customer base has grown: the number of companies active on the North Slope and in Cook Inlet has also increased, doubling in the last three years, he said. Continued streamlining Seamount said the commission is continuing to streamline its permitting process and also recently modified regulations to facilitate shallow gas drilling.
The commission is looking at proposed sales of gas from the Prudhoe Bay reservoir. “As you take gas out of the reservoir at Prudhoe Bay … you're going to lose some oil,” he said. The commission is “working on evaluating what that loss would be” so that it can inform the public and the Legislature “so they can make a good decision on that project.”
The commission is also working on both electronic information access and electronic permitting.
One goal is a “paperless library,” Seamount said, “a library that no one will ever visit outside of their den or their office.” The goal is to have all of the commission's public information — well logs, well files and administrative files — available electronically within two years.
He said the commission also expects to do all of its permits electronically.
A recent business process review, which included a survey of the commission's customers, was “pretty favorable” Seamount said, and the commission is taking the initiative to improve its processes. He noted the steady drop in approval time for drilling permits to nine days in the last quarter, while the number of applications is increasing. Information requested Ruedrich encouraged the drillers to bring ideas for changes to the commission. He asked for any data the drillers have on the effect of testing requirements for blow out preventers. Ruedrich wanted to know how many times drillers have had to stop operations to conduct a test, rather than having the test waived to the end of an operation, most of which are fairly short in Alaska, he said. Ruedrich said he understood that when the Minerals Management Service changed to a 14-day test period, they made it mandatory, and unless safety considerations precluded it, operations had to stop operations to test blow out preventers. He said he would rather aim at a flexible rule, “as long as it's proved and practical — rather than have a rigorous regime that may in the long run cost us a whole lot more time and effort,” adding cost and reducing “the operator's desire to do things” and putting “your rigs at risk of not being active.”
| 