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Hilcorp begins production from Red Pad
Hilcorp Alaska began natural gas production from Red Pad on the Kenai Peninsula Dec. 17.
Production is at 5 million cubic feet per day, Hilcorp Alaska spokeswoman Lori Nelson told Petroleum News in a Dec. 18 email. She said Hilcorp is “continuing to monitor the system” and hopes to reach its original production estimate of 6.5 million cubic feet per day.
The field was discovered by Unocal in 2004 and the Red 1 well tested 3.2 million to 5.8 million cubic feet per day in a 26-hour test. A second well, Red 2, was also drilled and tested in 2004, but there were no measurable hydrocarbons. Production is from an existing gravel pad built by Unocal. The Nikolaevsk unit leases were transferred to Hilcorp Jan. 1 as part of Hilcorp’s purchase of Chevron subsidiary Union Oil Company of California’s Cook Inlet assets.
Line just completed The accumulation is in the Nikolaevsk unit some 14 miles southeast of Ninilchik on the southern Kenai Peninsula, and was stranded until a six-inch pipeline was completed by Semco Energy’s Alaska Pipeline Co., APC, subsidiary in early December. The line runs some 10 miles east to connect with APC’s Anchor Point Pipe Line.
Hilcorp funded the Red Pad Pipeline through a contribution in aid of construction agreement; the estimated pipeline cost was $8.4 million.
In filings with the Regulatory Commission of Alaska in the fall, APC said pipe for the Red Pad Pipeline had already been purchased and that Hilcorp “has arranged for its expedited transportation to the construction site,” with most of the pipe already in Alaska.
—Kristen Nelson
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