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Duck Island, Northstar PODs approved
Smallest of Hilcorp’s North Slope fields; both produce crude and natural gas liquids, with highest NGL percentage at Northstar
Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
The state has approved plans of development from Hilcorp Alaska for the Duck Island and Northstar units, the company’s smallest North Slope fields, both producing from offshore facilities, for Feb. 13, 2023, through Feb. 12, 2024.
Duck Island unit The Duck Island unit plan of development was the 41st POD for the field, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Oil and Gas said in a Jan. 19 approval. The DIU was formed in 1978 and currently includes some 17,588 acres and three participating areas, Endicott, Sag Delta and Eider.
Average daily production, December 2021 through November 2022, was 5,355 barrels per day of oil, the division said, and 879 bpd of natural gas liquids.
During the previous plan, the 40th, Hilcorp had committed to rig workovers on well 3-11 to install a new tubing string, on 1-29 to fix a leak in the production casing, conversion of the 1-21 and 1-07A wells to gas injection for enhanced oil recovery and increasing water injectivity, the division said, completing three of the four well workovers, while deferring conversion of the 1-21 well to evaluate more economic opportunities for that well. Water injection capacity was not increased, the division said, “because Hilcorp could not secure service equipment needed to add perforations to existing water injection wells.”
On the facilities side, the company proposed a facility turnaround, upgrading and repairing the Satellite Drilling Island low flow test separator internals and installing a propane turbine demister, the division said, with all the facility operations completed.
For the 41st POD, Hilcorp plans up to three rig workovers with others as needed and various non-rig well work, along with key facility projects: “a facility turnaround for upgrades and repairs to the SDI low flow test separator internals, propane turbine demister installation, and LACT meter upgrades.”
The division said long-range activities “include converting LSZ of the Kekiktuk to gravity drainage to increase oil production, and exploring the remaining Ivishak and Alapah opportunities,” with no drilling or sidetracks proposed.
Northstar In its Northstar POD approval, also issued Jan. 19, the division said the unit, formed in 1990, includes four state leases and three federal leases, a total of some 20,135 acres. Northstar has three participating areas, Northstar (Ivishak sands), Fido (Ivishak sands) and Hooligan (Kuparuk sands) and is jointly managed by the division and the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.
Northstar production from January through November 2022 was 2.4 million barrels of oil and natural gas liquids and 183 billion cubic feet of natural gas, the division said. Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission data for November, the most recent month available, show Northstar averaged 7,028 barrels per day of crude oil and NGL combined, with 3,757 bpd of crude (53.5%) and 3,271 bpd of NGL (46.5%), the highest percentage of NGL production of any North Slope field.
In the previous POD, the 18th, covering Feb. 13, 2022, through Feb. 12, 2023, proposed work included installing active refrigeration on 45 newly installed heat pipes and 41 converted thermosyphons, along with continuing repair of the island’s coastal defenses. Long range, Hilcorp’s plans included exploring import of natural gas from Prudhoe for pressure maintenance of the Kuparuk reservoir; review of potential coil tubing drilling candidates and a determination of whether coil tubing drilling operations were economically viable and mechanically feasible on Northstar Island; and researching the economic viability of Sag River development, which, the division said, “may require stimulation techniques due to its low permeability and porosity.”
Hilcorp began ground refrigeration expansion for all 86 heat pipes and expects the first group of heat pipes will be in service by early in the next POD period, the division said. During the 18th POD, “Hilcorp twinned NS-05 to NS-03 flowlines to lower flowing tubing pressure and increase production for the well,” the division said, and is continuing analysis of other wells to lower tubing pressure. “Proposed long-range activities for identification of coil tubing drilling candidates and Sag River development are still being reviewed.”
For the 19th POD, the division said Hilcorp is proposing a workover on the NS-16A well, completing commissioning of the remaining heat pipes - if that has not been accomplished by the end of the 18th POD - and continuing a study of the feasibility of coil tubing drilling at Northstar, along with continuing evaluation of Sag River.
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