Armstrong permitting Pikka

Armstrong Energy LLC could drill as many as four wells and sidetracks at the Pikka unit this coming winter, according to a lease plan of operation for the proposed project.

The company plans to drill the Pikka No. 1 well at the southern end of the Pikka unit to appraise previous discoveries in the region between the Kuparuk River unit and the Colville River unit and could drill as many as three sidetracks from the same location.

The Pikka No. 1 well would be a slightly deviated hole drilled from ADL 393166 and targeting a bottomhole location at the same lease. The Pikka 1B and Pikka 1C sidetracks would also target locations at the lease, while the Pikka 1A sidetrack would target a location in ADL 393167. All four wells would be drilled to 9,000 feet or shallower.

Armstrong plans to use Doyon rig 14 or an equivalent rig. The program includes a 15-mile all-season gravel road connecting the existing Mustang pad at the Southern Miluveach unit to a proposed 500-foot-square ice pad in the Pikka unit. The ice pad will include maintenance buildings, connexs, a 60-man camp and a communications tower.

The proposed program would be a few miles southwest of the Qugruk No. 801 well that partner Repsol E&P USA Inc. permitted several years ago but never pursued. Repsol often paired wells and sidetracks as it explored other sections of the leasehold.

Armstrong recently announced a major discovery at Pikka. The company is waiting for a ruling on a recent request to expand the unit to accommodate development plans.

Armstrong also plans to drill the 9,000-foot nearly vertical Horseshoe No. 1 exploration well this winter on leases father south, west of the Kuparuk River unit Meltwater satellite.

- ERIC LIDJI