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Ten more wells approved at Milne Point pad
Hilcorp Alaska to drill 10 Schrader Bluff oil wells at I Pad in central North Slope; two environmental stipulations added to plan Kay Cashman Petroleum News
On Feb. 5 the Alaska Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Oil and Gas approved an amendment to the Milne Point unit’s plan of operations for I Pad that was filed by operator Hilcorp Alaska on Jan. 15. The decision authorizes Hilcorp to drill up to 10 Schrader Bluff development wells at I Pad and install associated infrastructure within the existing well row.
Drilling and associated activities will take place within the gravel pad, which is approximately 7 miles north of the Kuparuk airstrip on ADL 025906. If pad expansion, ice pad construction, or tundra travel is required, then Hilcorp must get the proper approval for those activities from the appropriate entities, the decision said.
POO activities include the following:
• Prepare for drilling; install 10 conductors and headers.
• Drill 10 grassroots development wells.
• Install facility piping, electrical lines, and instrumentation lines to tie wells into existing production facility infrastructure.
• Erect wellhouses to protect well heads.
• Install heat trace, power and instrumentation cable in cable trays.
• Install thermosiphons as necessary.
• Tie in wells to existing infrastructure.
The division provided a review and comment opportunity for the activities considered for authorization under its POO amendment decision. The following government entities were notified on Jan. 20 for comment: Alaska Department of Fish and Game; Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation; DNR’s Division of Mining, Land and Water; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; and the North Slope Borough.
The comment deadline was 4:30 p.m. Alaska Time on Feb. 2, with Laurie Silfven from ADEC submitting the only comment: “ADEC requests that Hilcorp notify ADEC in the event that contamination related to the 2013 spill is encountered during drilling activities.”
The division noted the comment, forwarded it to Hilcorp, and included it in the decision’s project stipulations.
The other stipulation in the amended POO was that a “certified As-Built survey of the activity shall be provided within one year of placement of the improvement. This As-Built must contain a hard copy, as well as digital GIS file containing a Shapefile or ESRI Feature Class.”
Hilcorp has three years to begin the drilling and related activities in the amendment or the approval expires on Feb. 5, 2024.
The 50,000-acre Milne Point unit was formed in September 1979. Hilcorp, a privately held independent, acquired a 50% working interest in the oil field in November 2014 from major BP Exploration (Alaska) and took over operatorship. Today, Hilcorp holds a 100% working interest in Milne Point.
Per a Feb. 7 article in Petroleum News on a Jan. 27 DNR presentation to the Senate Finance Committee, production growth at Milne Point has been approximately 28% from Fiscal Year 2019 to FY20 due to drilling at the M, L and I pads.
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