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State approves changes to WMRU
Eric Lidji For Petroleum News
The state has approved an expansion and a contraction at the West McArthur River unit.
The Alaska Division of Oil and Gas has approved a plan from operator Cook Inlet Energy LLC to add 640 acres to and remove 1,100 acres from the offshore unit.
The change incorporates the exploration prospect in the northeast corner of the unit, while removing two sections no longer believed to contribute to development activities.
The expansion would add a 640-acre portion of ADL 17602 to the northeast corner of the unit. Of that expansion acreage, approximately 200 acres are connected with the Sword prospect and the remainder is associated with the as-yet-unexplored Sabre prospect.
After having picked up the West McArthur River unit through its initial acquisition of Pacific Energy Alaska Ltd. assets in 2009, Cook Inlet Energy acquired an outstanding minority interest adjacent to the Sabre and Sword prospects in September 2012.
“Sword and Sabre prospects show great potential,” CEO David Hall said around that time, touting internal estimates of up to 20 million barrels of oil and 14.3 billion cubic feet of gas.
Sword drilled in 2013 Using the Patterson-UTI Drilling Co. rig 191, Cook Inlet Energy drilled the 18,475-foot Sword No. 1 well from June to October 2013. The extended-reach directional well targeted an offshore structure adjacent to the West McArthur River unit thought to contain some 800,000 barrels of recoverable oil, according to the company. The company brought the well into production in November 2013, which spawned some discussion of developing additional intervals and even drilling a Sword No. 2 well at the field.
According to the company and the state, results from the Sword No. 1 well “indicate a viable reservoir exists within the Tertiary Hemlock and lower-Tyonek formations,” which justified including the reservoir associated with the well into the unit boundaries.
A previous development plan for the unit called for drilling Sabre No. 1 by April 2016.
The contraction removed two sections from ADL 359112 totaling 1,100 acres, which were not contributing to any production in the unit area, according to the state.
The state approved the changes retroactive to November 2013.
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