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Pelican Hill permitting for Iliamna gas exploration Gas drilling on west side of Cook Inlet expected to begin in early October Kristen Nelson Petroleum News Editor-in-Chief
Pelican Hill Oil and Gas Inc. is in the permitting stage of its west side onshore Cook Inlet, Alaska, 2003 gas exploration program and is preparing to move its rig across the inlet.
The company has applied to the state for permits for its Iliamna natural gas exploration project onshore in the Trading Bay area. The state said it expects to issue a final determination of consistency with the Alaska Coastal Management Program on or before Oct. 9.
Equipment will be mobilized primarily by barge to an existing landing below the Trading Bay production facility and operations will cease before the inlet becomes impassible for barge traffic. Barge shipments, including the drilling rig, will be from Anchorage; smaller loads will be barged from Kenai.
Equipment will be moved to the drilling sites along existing roads and temporary roads required for the wells will be constructed with an interlocking mat system which will be removed once the work is complete.
The Trading Bay State Game Refuge surrounds the Iliamna project area, the state said, and one well, the Iliamna No. 2, is within the refuge. Operations will begin at that well on or after the allowable date of Oct. 1. Proposed locations are Iliamna No. 1 (section 31-township 9 north-range 14 west, Seward Meridian); Iliamna No. 2 (sec. 29-T9N-R14W, SM); Iliamna No. 3 (sec. 25-T9N-R15W, SM); Iliamna No. 4 (sec. 32-T9N-R14W, SM).
Rig expected to move by end of month Arlen Ehm, Anchorage-based geological consultant for Pelican Hill's Cook Inlet prospects, told Petroleum News Sept. 16 that the rig for the project, belonging to Water Resources International of Hawaii, will probably go over to the west side of Cook Inlet within the next two weeks.
The rig arrived in Alaska in July and is being fitted with a top drive and winterized in Anchorage. The state said the self-propelled carrier-mounted rig is capable of drilling to approximately 7,000 feet, although the wells will be drilled to a maximum depth of 5,500 feet.
Al Gross of Pelican Hill told Petroleum News in July that wells will be drilled on two prospects this year using a technology called casing drilling, new to Alaska, and drilling pads and temporary roads will be constructed of interlocking polyethylene mats (see story in July 27 issue of Petroleum News).
Pelican Hill told the state that the drilling with casing method means casing is always in place during drilling operations. “Therefore, should any zone of high pressure be encountered where well control could be a problem, the casing could be cemented immediately and the well sealed off,” eliminating the need to drill a relief well. Gas prospects only The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has determined that the proposed wells “are highly unlikely to encounter oil or oil-bearing formations” between the surface and 5,500 feet true vertical depth, which is the proposed depth for the wells, and Pelican Hill said it has applied to the commission and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation for an exception to the requirement for an oil discharge prevention and contingency plan.
Should gas be discovered at the wells, new facilities would be limited to gas-producing wellheads and well houses, which should not be larger than 10 feet by 10 feet, the company said. Pelican said it could apply to access the sites with permanent roads if the wells are put on production, but could also monitor two of the wells on foot and the other two by helicopter, with workover operations conducted on matting boards.
The company said the wells are “in natural clearings where there is no standing water.” And any industrial development would be limited to wellheads and well houses.
If gas is found and developed, pipelines would be buried and would, wherever possible, use existing pipeline rights of way.
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