Hilcorp plans Kenai Peninsula unit work

Company has Division of O&G approval for 2 new wells at Ninilchik Kalotsa Pad, applying to US Army Corp of Engineers to expand pad

Kristen Nelson

Hilcorp Alaska has approval from the Alaska Department of Natural Resources' Division of Oil and Gas to drill two new wells at the Kalotsa Pad at its Ninilchik unit on the Kenai Peninsula. Ninilchik is one of Cook Inlet's most prolific natural gas producers, but production has been declining. In addition to the planned wells, Hilcorp has applied to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to expand the pad.

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The division's Dec. 18 approval for the Kalotsa 13 and Kalotsa 14 wells includes installation of associated tie-in infrastructure including gas flowlines, electrical instrumentation, line heaters, separators, compressors, and well cellars and conductors as necessary. The two wells are on the eastern edge of the pad.

All of the state-approved work is within the existing Kalotsa Pad footprint. The division said the pad is on the southern Kenai Peninsula some 6 miles north of Ninilchik on the east side of Cook Inlet, near Milepost 129 of the Sterling Highway.

In November, the most recent month for which Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission production data is available, the Kalotsa Pad accounted for 41% of Ninilchik unit production.

AOGCC drilling records show three new wells drilled at the Kalotsa Pad in 2025.

Pad expansion

The corps said Hilcorp's stated purpose is to expand the existing gravel pad to increase natural gas operations and support current and future exploration and development activities.

The expansion would add 1.93 acres to the existing pad.

The corps said the entire area contains jurisdictional waters of the U.S., so complete avoidance is not practicable, but Hilcorp is proposing avoidance measures: delineation of project limits with silt fencing or similar material to avoid impacts outside the proposed pad area and doing work from the existing pad surface to avoid temporary impacts to waters of the U.S.

Minimization measures include design of pad slope to minimize fill area and impacts to wetlands; regular watering of pad surface during operations to minimize fugitive dust deposition in the area; and use of existing gravel sources.

The corps said Hilcorp has requested waiving of compensatory mitigation requirements "due to the project's small size, the common wetland type that would be filled, and the apparent overall health of the Corea Creek watershed in the project area."

The pad expansion is on the eastern edge and appears to increase the pad size by about a third.