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Oooguruk partial gas processing studied
Eni tells state in POD goal to reduce costs, constraints of Kuparuk processing; electrical sharing with Nikaitchuq also studied Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
Eni, which took over as 100% working interest owner and operator at Oooguruk effective Aug. 1, 2019, has submitted the 14th plan of development for the unit to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Oil and Gas. The POD covers Oct. 1, 2020, through Sept. 30, 2021.
Eni, which operates the adjacent Nikaitchuq field, previously held a 30% working interest in Oooguruk.
Both the 14th and 13th PODs include studies of partial gas processing at the Oooguruk tie-in pad and power sharing with Nikaitchuq, the other Eni-operated North Slope field.
The accumulation was discovered by ARCO Alaska in 1992 but not developed until after independent Armstrong Oil & Gas did delineation work at the field in the early 2000s partnering with Pioneer Natural Resources. The two announced a discovery at Oooguruk in 2003 and the field was unitized that same year. Pioneer brought Oooguruk online in 2008, delivering crude oil for processing at the Kuparuk River unit. Initial production was from the Nuiqsut and Kuparuk reservoirs; Torok production was added later.
Eni took over at Oooguruk from Caelus Natural Resources Alaska, which took over Pioneer’s interest, and operatorship, in 2014, acquiring an operating field and production which in 2014 averaged some 15,000 barrels per day. The most recent production data available from the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission is for May and shows Oooguruk production averaging 6,331 bpd.
There are 16 state oil and gas leases in the Oooguruk unit, some 35,271 acres.
Eni said cumulative production through May 2020 from the three participating areas at Oooguruk was some 41.1 million barrels.
Short 13th POD period The 13th POD period was short, just March 1 through Sept. 30, providing alignment with Eni’s internal business processes after it became Oooguruk operator (the Oooguruk plan period now matches that for Eni’s Nikaitchuq unit).
“During the 13th POD low crude oil prices, lack of demand for oil, and the logistical interference of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in budget cuts, production curtailments and project deferrals,” Eni said.
Forty-two wells have been drilled and completed to date at Oooguruk, 28 in the Oooguruk Nuiqsut participating area, five in the Oooguruk Kuparuk PA and three in the Oooguruk Torok PA. There is one Oooguruk Nuiqsut-Oooguruk Kuparuk dual completion well, one disposal well, and four other unit wells including an appraisal well and a Kuparuk test well, both under long term shut-in, and two wells which have been plugged and abandoned, the Sikumi 1 exploration well and an appraisal well.
Current active wells include 23 oil producers (18 Nuiqsut, three Kuparuk, two Torok), 13 injectors (10 Nuiqsut, two Kuparuk, one Torok) and one disposal well.
Eni said average production from Oooguruk, January through May, was some 8,000 bpd, with a May average of some 6,300 bpd, 27% below the March rate of 8,700 bpd.
Beginning in April, the company said, production was impacted by Alyeska Pipeline prorations due to high inventories and low prices; and reduced gas handling at the Kuparuk River unit associated with ConocoPhillips’ North Slope production curtailment, scheduled to run through at least July 1. Eni said the Alyeska proration was lifted May 22 and oil prices have improved, “but the KRU curtailment remains in place,” resulting in a June Oooguruk production averaging some 8,300 bpd.
Facilities A new 5-mile 12-inch seawater flowline from the Kuparuk River unit 30-inch low pressure seawater flowline to the Oooguruk tie-in pad, OTP, was commissioned during the 13th POD, along with a new seawater injection system pump upgrade project at OTP and the offshore Oooguruk drill site, ODS. “This system started in May 2020 allowing higher pressure and higher rate water injection at ODS,” the company said.
The main recovery mechanism at Oooguruk is waterflood, and the seawater injection system, SWIS, enhancement project “will supply ODS with up to 25,000 bpd of seawater, increase water injection reliability, and avoid the detrimental alternative of KRU produced water injection.” The project will also allow water injection supply pressures to be boosted from 2,800 psi to 3,700 psi, “which will significantly increase injectivity and flood throughput.”
June 2020 injection is 12,000 bpd, Eni said, and that will increase to 25,000 bpd in the near term.
Eni said water for injection was not available from July 2019 through April 2020 because of SWIS infrastructure construction, and startup was delayed by logistical issues arising from COVID-19.
In the Oooguruk-Nuiqsut PA, future development plans include 12 additional wells, eight from available well slots and four from well slot reclaims.
Also contributing to production increase was a gas debottlenecking capital project at OTP, allowing reduced backpressure in the OTP production piping system, resulting “in several hundred additional barrels per day of production from ODS.”
Eni said a hovercraft landing ramp was constructed at ODS, designed “to allow subsequent year-round personnel and equipment transportation to site using a hovercraft.” This work was approved by the division as an amendment to the 13th POD.
Eni said the project would modify an existing ramp at ODS “to accommodate hovercraft operations while maintaining or improving the ramp’s functionality for boat and barge operations.” The company said hovercraft access would “provide logistical flexibility and help address health and safety concerns for personnel transfers to/from ODS.” The configuration of the current ramp “does not support safe and efficient hovercraft operations due to the small size, which limits the approach/departure angle of the hovercraft and does not provide a sufficient landing area,” Eni said.
Access to ODS has been by helicopter, by boat or barge in open water and by ice trail or road during the winter as well.
Studies underway Eni said the 13th POD includes two studies.
The first is an engineering feasibility study looking at partial gas processing at OTP, which would “mitigate gas processing constraints and reduce associated costs from KRU CPF-3.”
An electrical power sharing study is looking at interconnecting Oooguruk and Nikaitchuq power generation system allowing “a more robust and efficient power system sharing between the two development projects.”
Drilling Eni said it had planned several workovers during the 13th POD to recomplete shut-in or low performing wells “prior to drilling planned new wells in 2021,” but both drilling and workover plans have been deferred due to low prices, lack of demand and logistic problems caused by COVID-19. The company said it did perform a number of well intervention and maintenance operations.
14th POD During the Oct. 1-Sept. 30, 2021, 14th POD, Eni said Oooguruk will have a maintenance turnaround in the summer of 2021, timed to coincide with a planned maintenance turnaround at the Kuparuk River unit CPF-3, with work likely to include “tank and vessel internal inspections, in addition to equipment and piping system inspections.”
Eni said the partial gas processing study will be a focus of engineering efforts, to determine “feasibility of installing on-site gas processing and compression equipment at OTP, to mitigate gas processing constraints and reduce associated costs from CPF-3.”
Engineering work will continue on an electric power sharing study which is looking at “the feasibility of interconnecting the Nikaitchuq power infrastructure with the Oooguruk power structure.”
The company said no drilling or workover activities are approved for the 14th POD, but Eni is considering scenarios to restart rig operations from ODS.
Two workovers are planned for ESP replacements.
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