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Nikaitchuq operation camp burns; no production impact, no injuries
A fire which broke out around midnight on Dec. 27 at the Nikaitchuq Operations Camp on Alaska’s North Slope caused no injuries and no impact to production and drilling.
Whitney Grande, safety and environmental manager for Eni US Operating Co., the 100 percent Nikaitchuq working interest owner and field operator, said in an email that the camp was evacuated; all personnel were accounted for; and there were no injuries. Eni is an Italian major oil company; Nikaitchuq is its only operated North Slope field, although the company also holds an interest in the neighboring Oooguruk field.
Grande said the fire progressed rapidly due to an east wind blowing at some 23 mph. In spite of the fire’s fast progress, “there were no injuries, oil spill or damage to the environment, and there was no disruption to the production at the Nikaitchuq field facilities, located approximately 3 miles from the NOC,” he said.
Personnel were moved to a nearby camp which can accommodate all staff present at the field.
“Production and drilling operations will continue without interruption,” Grande said.
Nikaitchuq lies offshore between Oooguruk and Milne Point, north of the Kuparuk River unit.
Production began in 2011 Eni brought the Oliktok Point pad at Nikaitchuq online in January 2011 and the Spy Island drill site online in November of that same year.
Through the end of 2014, the company expects to have drilled more than 50 wells at the unit. In June the company reached a peak production level of 25,000 barrels per day from Nikaitchuq and expects to reach 30,000 bpd within the next year.
Production facilities at Nikaitchuq are designed to handle 40,000 bpd.
Eni developed its own production facilities for Nikaitchuq. The neighboring Oooguruk field, developed by Pioneer Natural Resources Alaska and now operated by Caelus Alaska, uses ConocoPhillips Alaska production facilities at the Kuparuk River field to process its crude oil.
Second phase Eni has neared completion of its initial drilling plans at Nikaitchuq and is now applying advanced technologies such as multilateral drilling and waterflood in the field. Dual laterals were expected to be added to 15 existing or recently drilled wells by the end of 2014.
The company is now evaluating geographic or geologic extensions in the field, extending Schrader Bluff OA sands development into the western area of the unit.
- Kristen Nelson
—A copyrighted oil and gas lease map from Mapmakers Alaska was a research tool used in preparing this story.
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