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Conoco plans as many as 14 Colville wells
21st annual update to Colville River plan does not include exploration; cumulative production through 2018 is 564 million barrels Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
ConocoPhillips Alaska has turned in its 21st annual status update for the Colville River unit. While the public version of the plan does not include exploration plans - the company says those are confidential - ConocoPhillips does say it plans to drill as many as 14 development wells in the unit during 2019 and the first quarter of 2020. Through the end of 2018 production from the six participating areas within the unit totaled 564.135 million barrels, according to Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission data.
ConocoPhillips said an application for a new participating area, Fiord West Kuparuk, was submitted for approval in December.
Primarily horizontal drilling Development at the Colville River unit is primarily done with horizontal drilling.
Two participating areas, Qannik and Nanuq (Alpine satellites) are primarily waterflooded, although Nanuq receives limited MWAG as miscible injectant is available. Alpine, Fiord Nechelik, Fiord Kuparuk and Fiord Kuparuk are on MWAG for enhanced oil production. “MWAG refers to gas-alternating-water flood using either a miscible gas or sub-miscible enriched gas,” the company said.
Satellite development has strategic value, the company said, “as they maximize the use of the existing Alpine infrastructure.”
There were minor deviations from the prior approved plan, with two CD5 Alpine multilateral wells planned between the first quarter of 2018 and the first quarter of 2019 deferred into 2020 “dud to the high activity level (both exploration and development) during the winter season.”
A Nanuq rotary horizontal well was deferred into 2020 “to accommodate additional drilling days realized on the remaining wells.”
Alpine Development at the Colville River unit began with the Alpine pool, where 152 wells have been drilled, the company said, 78 producers, 72 injectors and two disposal wells at the Alpine participating area and an additional 13 wells, six producers and seven injectors, at the Nanuq Kuparuk participating area, numbers which exclude sidetracks and re-drills, the company said.
All initial wells planned for drill sites CD1 and CD2 were completed by late 2005, and since then, “peripheral opportunities have been pursued in conjunction with satellite wells.”
Beginning in 2006 Alpine A and C sands were developed from CD4.
In 2015, construction of CD5 was completed and the rig mobilized to the drill site, with production startup in October 2015.
“The Alpine rotary development program continues into 2019 with plans to drill five Alpine producers and three Alpine injectors starting in Q1 2019 and going through Q1 2020,” ConocoPhillips said, with three additional Alpine horizontal producer targets, any of which may be moved into the 2019-Q1 2020 schedule “as rig optimization/utilization dictates.”
Coiled tubing drilling is also planned.
“Development of the Alpine reservoir continues to focus on the expansion of the existing MWAG flood and the use of line-drive horizontal well patterns,” the company said.
At CD5, drilling results from each well “supported the next westward target,” with results now suggesting “another target exists to the west, but the location will need a drilling rig larger than Doyon 19 to access its potential.”
Fiord, Nanuq, Qannik There are 23 wells at the Fiord Nechelik PA, 13 producers and 10 injectors, and no new wells are planned in 2019-Q1 2020, although three producer and two injector coiled tubing sidetrack opportunities have been identified, the company said, and could be drilled as rig optimization/utilization dictates.
There were six active wells in the Fiord Kuparuk PA in 2018, three producers and three injectors. ConocoPhillips said wells in this PA have a high water cut, “making them non-competitive with other wells in the field.” Wells are brought online when facility water handling allows.
There are no additional wells plans in the Fiord Kuparuk PA in 2019-Q1 2020.
The company said there are plans in Q1 2019 for “a slant pilot hole well targeting the Fiord West Kuparuk reservoir near where future extended reach laterals are planned to be drilled using the Extended Reach Drilling (ERD) rig.” Purpose of the pilot hole is to evaluate subsurface properties “to assist detailed ERD well planning and execution efforts,” with the ERD rig slated to arrive and begin drilling in 2020.
Nanuq has been developed primarily from CD4, ConocoPhillips said, with six active producers and four active injectors. No new wells are planned for 2019-Q 2020, although a CTD sidetrack is planned, and “several targets for both CTD and rotary drilling will be considered as rig optimization/utilization dictates.”
Qannik, developed from CD2, has nine wells, six producers and three water injectors. “The ongoing recovery scheme involves waterflood from inboard injection wells supplemented with a natural gas cap expansion drive from the east.”
Facilities ConocoPhillips said no major process expansions are planned in 2019 for the Alpine Central Facility, but it said engineering studies were performed last year to evaluate current limitations for water, oil and gas at the facility and analyze “options available to maximize facility capacity for growth opportunities.”
The Alpine gas expansion project kicked off last year after completion of the engineering study. The objective of the project is to debottleneck gas handling at the facility through upgrade of a turbine-compressor package. “The project will also address other facility gas handling bottlenecks associated with the increase in gas throughput,” the company said. Installation and startup are proposed for 2020 but could potentially be deferred to 2021.
No 2019 expansions are being planned and engineered for the CD1, CD3 or CD4 drill sites.
At CD5, the first expansion - adding 12 well slots - was installed in 2017. Engineering, design and permitting of a second CD5 expansion was completed last year. That expansion will add 10 additional slots this year.
Engineering, design and permitting of the CD2 expansion, which will support Fiord West development, was completed in 2018, with gravel haul for the 5.3-acre pad expansion during the 2018 ice road season. The drill site expansion, adding 21 well slots, will be done this year, ready for startup in Q1 2020, the company said. Three existing well slots, never used on the CD2 Qannik well row, will be available for the ERD rig and three additional slots will be added to the CD2 Qannik well row. The total well slots available for ERD use starting in Q1 2020 will be 27, ConocoPhillips said, with future expansion capacity for 11 well slots.
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