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Repsol’s Pikka development plan mostly studies; Armstrong’s unknown
When Repsol E&P USA Inc. announced a strategic realignment with its minority partner Armstrong Oil & Gas Inc., short-term plans for the Pikka unit became uncertain.
The two companies deferred an upcoming drilling program planned for this winter, while they continued to discuss the possibility of sanctioning development at some future date.
Shortly before the announcement, though, Repsol presented state officials with its proposed work plans for the coming year, through a required plan of exploration for the unit. Given that Armstrong now has an option to become operator of the unit, these plans could change in the coming months, but they provide a sense of Repsol’s intensions.
Although Repsol was in the process of permitting a two-or-three-well exploration program at the North Slope unit when it announced the realignment, a plan of exploration submitted to state officials in late September makes no mention of drilling activity.
Data analysis Instead, Repsol said it intended to spend the year analyzing prior drilling activities and integrating those into reservoir models and licensing existing seismic information.
The company planned to expand its seismic modeling for the region by licensing the existing North Island 3-D seismic survey and conducting extensive reprocessing.
The company also plans to integrate recent geophysical studies into the merged Nigliq-Tabasco North seismic surveys to get “a better understanding of the reservoir seismic signature in terms of reservoir properties.” The first phase of the study includes a rock physics study on eight new wells and nine existing wells, although the plan of development provides no timeline for drilling those new wells. The results of the study will help the company find the best locations for future wells, among other benefits.
The final task included in the plan of development involves stratigraphic and core analysis of the three exploration wells the company drilled at the unit earlier this year. Under the terms of the recently announced deal, Armstrong increased its ownership in the Pikka unit to 45 percent with an option to acquire another 6 percent and operatorship.
- ERIC LIDJI
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