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Evergreen Resources plans to drill coal core wells near Delta Junction Company says if it finds coal with right properties this year, it may pursue unitization, the first step for shallow natural gas exploration and development Kristen Nelson PNA Editor-in-Chief
Evergreen Resources Alaska Corp., a subsidiary of Evergreen Resources Inc. of Denver, Colo., has applied to the Department of Natural Resources to drill two mineral core wells on shallow gas leases near Delta Junction.
“The purpose of the coring project,” Evergreen told the state, “is to gain geological information on the rock formations penetrated during the drilling and to recover coal cores for further laboratory testing…
“If the project is successful in finding coal with the right properties, Evergreen may pursue unitization, which is the first step necessary for shallow natural gas exploration and development.” A third of a million acres Evergreen farmed into 333,415 acres of state shallow gas leases near Delta Junction in May, 2001. The leases are south of the Richardson Highway northwest of Big Delta and straddle the highway at Delta Junction.
Very little geologic work has been done in this part of the Nenana basin to date: “No one can say with any degree of certainty whether economic accumulations of natural gas exist,” the company said.
Evergreen said that late this summer it will undertake a six to eight week program to gather initial geologic and geophysical data: drilling two small diameter core holes; geologic mapping of exposed rock formations; an airborne geophysical survey to collect gravity and magnetic data.
The geologic mapping program will consist of a team of three to five geologists “looking at and making measurements from outcrop.” There will be no on-site field camps.
Evergreen said it will be using “equipment routinely used in the Alaska mineral industry,” an LF70 coring rig owned by joint venture NANA-Dynatec which will provide both the rig and the drilling crew.
The rig, 6 feet by 10 feet, weighs 6,500 pounds and can be transported by helicopter or by truck. The rig and ancillary equipment can drill from a 45 by 60 feet area.
An artificially constructed drilling pad is usually not necessary, Evergreen said, just a fairly level site generally free of vegetation. At helicopter sites any necessary drill site modifications would have to be done with hand tools and labor as heavier equipment would not be available.
Drilling fluids will be plain water, the company said, and perhaps polymer. Coring each hole is expected to take two weeks of round-the-clock operation.
The core holes will be abandoned immediately after drilling, plugged with 50 feet of cement. There will be no casing run, Evergreen said, and no gas production testing. No on-site camp The first site is in section 18, township 10 south, range 5 east, Fairbanks Meridian, approximately 36 miles west of Delta Junction and 20 miles south of Birch Lake on the Richardson Highway. The helicopter will mobilize the rig and ferry two workers needed in each 12-hour shift. There will be no on-site camp.
The second hole will be close to Delta Junction. Evergreen said the site will be determined by the results of the first core hole.
If the results of the first core hole are good, a second helicopter supported hole may be drilled about seven miles west of Delta Junction. If, however, results of the first core hole are not as promising, the second core hold will be drilled in an area accessible by road in the vicinity of Delta Junction.
Evergreen said it is negotiating with surface owners to determine the most appropriate coring location, with three possible road accessible sites under consideration, one on private land near Clearwater Road and the others in unused gravel pits owned by the state.
The second site would be either section 16-T10S-R9E, FM, or section 5, 10 or 35 in T10S-R9E, FM. No different than coal exploration Evergreen said it “believes that its operations on this project fall under the regulations for mineral exploration, and not oil and gas exploration. These holes are no different than the holes that coal exploration companies have drilled for many years in the Nenana basin, through the same formations, and to the same targets.”
The company is asking for exception to lease mitigation measures to allow surface discharge of drilling fluids and cuttings, since the core holes are of narrow diameter and shallow depth.
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