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Hilcorp permitting new Milne Point pad Company proposing new pad, road and 44-well development program in western end of unit; work to begin this winter ERIC LIDJI For Petroleum News
Hilcorp Alaska LLC is permitting a new drilling pad at the Milne Point unit.
The local subsidiary of the Texas-based independent wants to drill as many as 44 wells at a new Moose Pad at the North Slope unit, according to a recent plan of operations.
The project would include a 17.22-acre gravel pad, a 2.83-mile gravel road, expanded infrastructure and as many as 44 development wells to access some seven square miles of undeveloped oil reserves in the western half of the unit, according to the company.
Under a timeline included with the permitting application, Hilcorp said it would begin road and pad construction and power installation this winter, install pipelines and facilities the following winter and start a drilling program as early as September 2018.
The proposed Moose pad would initially target oil in the Schrader Bluff formation on leases ADL 25514, ADL 25515 and ADL 25509. From the start, Hilcorp plans to drill production wells for normal recovery and injection wells for enhanced oil recovery.
The Moose Pad project would include a new road branching from the existing Milne Point Unit L Pad Road into an undeveloped area adjacent to the Kuparuk River unit.
The Division of Oil and Gas is accepting comments through Dec. 7.
Expansion underway Hilcorp acquired a 50 percent working interest in Milne Point from BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. as part of a larger acquisition in late 2014 and became operator of the unit.
After taking over the unit, Hilcorp spent much of 2015 working on existing wells, performing some 54 workover operations, according to plans of development.
The company began a new development program at the unit toward the end of the year, drilling three wells at L Pad between August and November 2015 and eight wells spread across B Pad, C Pad, J Pad, K Pad and L Pad through the first seven months of this year.
In addition to the drilling program, Hilcorp announced plans to expand the existing B Pad, E Pad and L Pad to accommodate increased drilling and development activities.
Hilcorp first mentioned plans for a Moose Pad in the western half of the unit in its most recent plan of development for Milne Point, submitted to the state in May 2016. The company said, at the time, that the project would be “contingent on market conditions.”
The western half of Milne Point is undeveloped, although not unexplored. In early 2007, former operator BP drilled the Pesado No. 1 well and Pesado No. 1A sidetrack on ADL 25515 and the Liviano No. 1 well and Liviano No. 1A sidetrack on ADL 25514. The company plugged and abandoned both wells at the end of the exploration season.
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