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Aurora expects busy 2015 at Nicolai A disappointing pair of wells in 2013 hasn’t dimmed optimism; company is analyzing seismic for potential opportunities Eric Lidji For Petroleum News
After a pair of disappointing wells in 2013, and maintenance work in 2014, Aurora Gas LLC expects to renew efforts at Nicolai Creek next year, according to a company official.
The Alaska-based independent drilled the Nicolai Creek No. 13 and No. 14 wells in August and July 2013, respectively. Based on the success of previous wells, the company had expected those two wells to yield an average production bump of 3 million cubic feet per day, according to Aurora Gas President Ed Jones, but “neither of the development wells resulted in commercially viable accumulations of hydrocarbons and were plugged and abandoned,” according to a plan of development for the year ending in October 2014.
While Aurora did not drill any wells or perform any rigged well work in 2014, the company recently completed several coiled tubing cleanouts and might perform more before the end of the year, according to Jones. “We are awaiting a review of seismic to confirm and prioritize these several drilling possibilities - we are expecting to have a more active year in 2015,” Jones told Petroleum News by email in early September.
Among the possibilities is a Nicolai Creek No. 12 well, which the company had initially floated as a possibility for its current plan of development but ultimately deferred. The well would target deeper sands not accessible through Nicolai Creek No. 10 or No. 3.
Longstanding commitment Aurora acquired Nicolai Creek unit in 2000 through a trade with Marathon Oil Co., giving up a working interest at Kenai and Cannery Loop in return for operatorship.
“We essentially traded a modest quantity of proved developed producing reserves at Kenai and Cannery Loop for a larger quantity of proved undeveloped reserves at Nicolai Creek,” Aurora Power President G. Scott Pfoff told Petroleum News in January 2000.
Between 1968 and 1977, Nicolai Creek produced fuel gas for offshore platforms. Later, a pipeline connected the field to the regional grid. But in the early 1990s a former operator killed the best producing well - Nicolai Creek Unit No. 3 - with drilling mud.
Aurora restarted production in late 2001, after cleaning out the well. In subsequent years, the company also restarted production from the Nicolai Creek No. 1B and No. 2 wells and drilled the Nicolai Creek No. 8 well, which is now known as Nicolai Creek No. 9.
After having to suspend production for parts of 2005, 2006 and 2007 because of commercial disputes involving marketing its product, Aurora brought the Nicolai Creek No. 11 well online in late 2009 and drilled the Nicolai Creek No. 10 well in 2011.
The results of those wells were what prompted optimism for No. 13 and No. 14.
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