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State OKs S. Granite Point expansion Cook Inlet unit will be consolidated with Granite Point field; originally different owners, Hilcorp now 100% working interest owner Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
The Alaska Division of Oil and Gas has approved an application from Hilcorp Alaska to expand the 4,689-acre South Granite Point unit in Cook Inlet to include the adjacent 10,722-acre Granite Point field and rename it the Granite Point unit.
Granite Point produces from the Granite Point, Anna and Bruce platforms.
The SGPU was approved in 1998 and operated by Union Oil Company of California until Hilcorp purchased its working interests in 2011 and was approved as unit operator in early 2012. Hilcorp acquired the remaining 75 percent working interests in the unit from ExxonMobil Alaska Production in mid 2012. The SGPU produces from the Granite Point platform.
The Granite Point field leases were issued by the state in 1962 and have been held by production since the end of their primary five-year terms. The leases, ADL 18742, ADL 17586 and ADL 17587 are produced from the Anna and Bruce platforms.
Oil production from both the SGPU and the Granite Point field is processed and sold at the Granite Point Production Facility. The state is the only royalty owner and Hilcorp the only working interest owner in the SCPU or the Granite Point field.
1965 discovery The division said the Granite Point oil field was discovered in 1965 by the Mobil Granite Point No. 1 well in the Tyonek and Hemlock formations and the three platforms - from south to north Granite Point, Anna and Bruce - were installed in 1966. Sustained production began in 1967 and waterflood in 1971.
Primary production on all three platforms is from the Middle Kenai “C” sands of the Tyonek formation, with the Hemlock formation currently producing from one well on the Granite Point platform.
The division said some 112 wells have been drilled in the field. Production in October of 2014 was 1,397 barrels per day from the Granite Point platform, 1,022 bpd from the Anna platform and 380 bpd from the Bruce platform.
South Granite Point unitized Production from the Granite Point platform was unitized in 1998 by Unocal as the South Granite Point unit. Amoco operated the Bruce and Anna platforms to the north. The division said a row of injectors “isolates production from the Granite Point Platform to the south from the Anna and Bruce platforms to the north.”
Hilcorp is now the sole operator of all the Granite Point platforms, and production is continuing to decline, the division said, with only the Bruce platform producing gas for operations. The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission authorized commingling of Hemlock production with the as-yet unproduced Middle Kenai reservoir in the GPS 11-13RD well in order to maximize production from the platform.
The division said that given those factors “it is in the best interest of all parties to consolidate operations into one unit. Expanding the current SGPU to include the (Granite Point field) creates efficiencies regarding administration, operations, and conservation of resources. Unitization maximizes the opportunities for Hilcorp to effectively produce the remaining dwindling reserves in the area.”
A SGPU plan of development effective through May of this year indicates Hilcorp plans to execute additional well work and drilling as opportunities arise. The GP-45 well was worked over in early March producing some 450 bpd. The division said Hilcorp anticipates a 10-year inspection and repair of two oil storage tanks, and “will continue to pursue efficiencies through various well, infrastructure, and facility repairs including evaluation of shut-in wells for potential return to service.”
The division said integrating the SGPU and Granite Point field “infrastructure and facilities eliminates the need to construct additional metering facilities and will eliminate redundant expenditures for future production.”
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