|
Aurora Gas submits Nicolai Creek field plan to AOGCC
Kristen Nelson
Aurora Gas LLC has submitted a Nicolai Creek field plan to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.
The commission is required by statute to approve the plan if it contains a voluntary agreement by the lessee to use its best efforts to employ residents of Alaska consistent with law and to contract with local firms for work in conjunction with field development.
After a lessee’s plan has been approved, the lessee is entitled to a royalty reduction.
Ed Jones, executive vice president of Aurora Gas, told the commission that Aurora has no employees in the Nicolai Creek field, “other than intermittent supervisors or engineers,” and has no immediate plans to hire.
Contractors do most of the work at the field, Jones said, and to date most of them have been firms in the state: Peak Oilfield Service Co., Inlet Drilling Alaska Inc. and Fairweather E&P Services.
More than 90 percent of the fabrication and almost 100 percent of the installation of facilities were done by Alaska-based companies, Jones said.
“Aurora’s policy is to use local firms to contract development work whenever those firms are competitive in price and service,” Jones told the commission. Jones said that due to logistics and transportation costs, Aurora expects “that ‘firms in the state’ will continue to be the most competitive and, therefore, will do the majority of the contracted development work.”
More wells planned Development of the west side Cook Inlet field started in December 2000 with the work over of the Nicolai Creek Unit No. 3 well; production facilities and pipeline for that well were installed between May and October; production began Oct. 3.
Jones said that in 2002, Aurora plans to drill the Nicolai Creek Unit No. 8 well, re-complete the No. 2 well and re-enter and sidetrack the No. 1A well.
Installation of a common production facility and pipeline for these wells is planned for the summer of 2002.
Drilling of additional wells — in 2003 and beyond — is contingent on the performance of wells drilled in 2002, Jones said.
State statute requires the commission to hold a public hearing within 45 days of receipt of the plan, submitted Nov. 28. A hearing has been scheduled for Dec. 20 at 9 a.m.
| 