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Aurora renewing Nicolai Creek focus Possible plans for 2016 include new development well, studies into potential storage operation and seismic acquisition ERIC LIDJI For Petroleum News
Aurora Gas LLC is again considering plans for a new development well at the Nicolai Creek unit to access deeper natural gas accumulations beyond the reach of existing wells.
The company is also looking into reviving a dormant storage operation.
If economically feasible, the Anchorage-based independent would drill the Nicolai Creek No. 12 well in the area south of the Nicolai Creek No. 3 and No. 10 wells. Earlier logging has indicated a fault separating those two wells, creating opportunities for a third well.
The well would be the first at Nicolai Creek since 2013, when the company drilled the Nicolai Creek No. 13 and No. 14 wells. The company has proposed Nicolai Creek No. 12 in previous plans of development for the Cook Inlet unit but deferred those plans.
This past year, Aurora performed limited maintenance activities described as “slickline work” on four existing development wells: Nicolai Creek No. 2, No. 3, No. 9 and No. 10.
In early 2014, the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission allowed unit-wide comingling at the Nicolai Creek unit, which impacted several wells this year.
In January, following the ruling, Aurora opened the middle completions in the Tyonek formation at the Nicolai Creek No. 2 well to co-mingle with the upper completions and Beluga completions. A lower completion from 2013 remains isolated for the time being.
Production from Nicolai Creek No. 9 increased five-fold following a second cleaning in May 2015, producing first at 200,000 cubic feet per day and doubling to more than 400,000 cubic feet per day in early October after silt and water was cleared from the well.
Aurora is also once again considering a long-planned gas storage operation at the Nicolai Creek unit. If approved, the program would operate from the NCU No. 2 and NCU No. 9 wells and would have a capacity in the range of 2.5 billion to 3 billion cubic feet.
The company said it intends to revive the project this coming year with a series of studies that will determine whether to proceed with leasing, permitting and implementation.
This coming year, Aurora is also considering a program to control sand build-up at the Nicolai Creek No. 10 well, including the possibility of a remedial workover.
Exploration license While the Nicolai Creek unit has been primarily a development property for many years, the opportunity for exploration into some deeper oil and natural gas prospects exists.
Several years ago, Apache Alaska Corp. acquired rights to some of these deeper opportunities. The company commissioned a 3-D seismic survey over the unit in 2012.
Aurora told the state that it is interested in purchasing this seismic package and expects to acquire a license sometime next year. The seismic could be used to plan future exploration and development drilling throughout the entire unit area. That said, the company is not planning to drill any exploration wells at the Nicolai Creek unit in 2016.
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