Milne S Pad expansion request approved

Kristen Nelson

Petroleum News

A request from Hilcorp Alaska for expansion of S Pad at the company's Milne Point unit on the North Slope was approved July 21 by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources' Division of Oil and Gas.

The division said the expansion upgrades the facility for future additional wells and well work activities.

Some 23,800 cubic yards of gravel will be placed on some 3.62 acres of wetlands adjacent to the existing pad, providing space for a header expansion, remote shelter, a polymer skid, a booster pump module and the drilling of up to 22 additional wells using the Doyon 19 rig.

As many as 30 vertical support members will be installed to support the head expansion, remote shelter and booster pump.

In its June 5 application Hilcorp told the state: "The facility expansion and associated drill wells are needed to manage increased production at S Pad within the MPU."

Hilcorp said work would begin with VSM installation, July 21 through Aug. 31. Gravel would be placed Aug. 1 through Nov. 30, with header extension installation in that same period.

Installation of the remote shelter/E Mod would be from Dec. 1 through March 31, 2026, followed by preparation for drilling in May and grassroots well drilling from June 1, 2026, through Feb. 28, 2030. The polymer skid and booster pump mod would be placed from Sept. 1, 2026, through Dec. 1, 2026.

Facility piping, electrical lines and instrumentation lines to tie wells into existing production facilities would be from June 1, 2026, to Feb. 28, 2030.

--KRISTEN NELSON