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No new drilling proposed for Kenai Loop
AIX submits sixth plan of development and operations for small gas field north of Cannery Loop; two wells in production at field Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
AIX Energy LLC, operator of the Kenai Loop gas field, has submitted its the sixth plan of development and operations for the Kenai Loop gas field to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Oil and Gas.
Kenai Loop includes DNR, Mental Health Trust Office and Cook Inlet Region Inc. leases; AIX acquired the field in 2014 out of a bankruptcy by the field developer, Buccaneer.
Buccaneer acquired the initial DNR leases for the field in 2010, AIX said, and acquired Mental Health Trust leases in 2011. The discovery well, KL 1-1, was completed in 2011, with a flow rate of 10 million cubic feet per day from the Tyonek sand at 9,700 feet. A second well, KL 1-2, was drilled in 2011 but was a dry hole and is currently shown by the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission as suspended, the company said.
Buccaneer completed 23 square miles of 3D seismic in April 2012, with processing completed that July; subsequent wells were drilled based on the company’s interpretation of that 3D data.
KL 1-3 was completed in 2012 as a sand producer at 9,700 feet, 300 feet structurally deeper than KL 1-1. In 2013 KL 1-4 was completed in 9,700-foot sand, 100 feet shallower than KL 1-1. That well tested at 2.5 million cubic feet per day, “but was determined to be in the same reservoir as KL 1-1. KL 1-4 has not been tied into the production system and has been used to monitor reservoir pressure,” AIX said.
As of March 2020 AIX said it has made no major changes to the facilities at the field, which is currently developed from one drill pad. A second pad, constructed in 2012, was never used in operation and was decommissioned in 2017, with the surface lease released to the Trust Land Office.
Of the four wells at the field, KL 1-1 is an active producer; KL 1-2 is temporarily suspended and may be used in the future as a disposal well; KL 1-3 is an active producer; and KL 1-4 is a shut-in producer, which is not tied into the field’s production system.
As of the end of March, cumulative production at the field was 27.7 billion cubic feet of natural gas, 8,848 barrels of water; and 2,673 barrels of condensate.
“AIX’s marketing goals are to continue to pursue value-added, near-term gas sales opportunities (to align with existing and future production capacity), while maintaining pricing discipline,” the company said.
During the fifth plan of operations, which covered May 7, 2019-May 6, 2020, AIX obtained static reservoir pressures on KL 1-1 and KL 1-3, the field’s producing wells, and “updated the material balance estimates of gas in place and reserves.”
The company said its management and technical teams met with Cook Inlet Region Inc. and its technical representatives in February to provide an update on the status of the field and exploration lease “and to discuss potential prospects and exploration opportunities.”
Proposed plan For the sixth plan of development and operations, May 7, 2020-May 6, 2021, AIX said its planned activities include well work and compression.
AIX purchased and installed a natural gas fired compressor in the winter of 2018, with startup in February 2019. KL 1-3 is on compression and KL 1-1 will be put on compression when required, the company said, based on a cost/benefit analysis “to provide increased deliverability, to provide redundancy to meet firm gas sales obligations and to possibly increase ultimate recovery.”
The company will also evaluate “recompleting wells to provide additional deliverability.”
The plan to obtain static reservoir pressures on KL 1-1 and KL 1-3 requires a complete field shutdown of 72 hours, and AIX said it “will attempt to shelter the work during planned pipeline or facility maintenance.”
AIX told DNR that it has not identified any drilling opportunities within the producing state lease, ADL 391094, for the proposed sixth plan.
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