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Bear exploration approved with conditions
Work to start Jan. 20 on ConocoPhillips’s Bear 1 Brookian exploration well, south of Alpine and 12 miles south of Stirrup Kay Cashman Petroleum News
On Dec. 16 the Alaska Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Oil and Gas issued a decision on ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc.’s 2023 Bear 1 Exploration Program Lease Plan of Operations, which was submitted by the company on Sept. 8. The division approved the plan but amended it.
After state land is leased for oil and gas development, projects follow a phased progression. These phases include exploration, development, production and transportation. The division continually examines effects of oil and gas activities as projects transition throughout each phase.
Before the next phase of a project may proceed, a public notice with opportunity to comment and division approval is required.
Scope of decision CPAI proposes to drill one Brookian exploration oil well, Bear 1, on oil and gas lease ADL 393519, which is west of the central North Slope.
The project is located on non-unitized state lands that extend south of Alpine, approximately 22 miles south of Nuiqsut, and four miles east of the Colville River. Per a state lease map, it is part of a block of CPAI-held leases that are bordered on the north and east by Oil Search (Alaska), or OSA, operated leases.
A 30-mile-long snow trail will be constructed to access the site from the DS-2P pad. An ice pad, measuring 500 feet by 500 feet, will be built at DS-2P to stage equipment and house a mobile camp. The Bear 1 drilling ice pad will measure 700 feet by 700 feet for a total area of 11.25 acres.
Structures including a drill rig, maintenance buildings, storage connexes, tanks, incinerator, office buildings, communication tower, mobile camps and other small temporary buildings will be located at the drilling ice pad.
Lake MC7908 will be utilized as a temporary airstrip to transport personnel and materials to the project site.
The project is scheduled to begin in January 2023. All operations will be performed from the ice pad. All facilities will be temporary.
On trend with Stirrup? In studying available maps and a G&G team’s comments, Bear 1 appears to be on trend with OSA’s 2020 Stirrup discovery.
Bear 1 will be approximately 12 miles south of Stirrup 1, which had one of the highest flow rates of any Nanushuk single-stage stimulation of a vertical well on the North Slope.
Stirrup 1 successfully penetrated the Nanushuk reservoir and encountered an oil column with net pay of 75 feet. The wellbore was cored, perforated through a single-stage simulation and shut-in for six days to enable pressure build-up prior to testing in which Stirrup flowed at a stabilized rate of 3,520 barrels of oil per day,
As previously reported, ConocoPhillips Alaska President Erec Isaacson described the company’s Bear 1 well as a Brookian Topset play.
“A Brookian Topset is exactly what we drilled at Pikka, Horseshoe, Stirrup, Mitquq and … CP drilled at Willow. CP knows what they are doing. I give the Bear well a high chance of success based on what we know,” Bill Armstrong said in response to a query from PN.
Project milestones The project milestones for the Bear 1 program are as follows:
1. Build DS-2P ice pad, start Jan. 20 and finish by Jan. 30.
2. Build snow trail, start Jan. 25 and finish by Feb. 15.
3. Drilling rig mobilization, start Feb. 2 and finish by Feb. 15.
4. Drilling, start Feb. 25 and finish by March 25.
5. Plug and abandon well, start March 25 and finish by April 5.
6. Completion and demobilization, start April 10 and finish by April 25.
7. Summer activities, start July 5 and finish by Aug. 31
Agencies review The division provided an agency review and comment opportunity for the activities proposed by CPAI for authorization under this decision. The following government entities were notified on Sept. 22 for comment on the plan: U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, Department of Transportation, DNR’s Division of Mining, Land and Water, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and North Slope Borough. The comment deadline was Oct. 6.
Comments were received and the division, CPAI, and commenting agencies reconciled the comments without modifying the plan.
Public notice: no comments Public notice of the plan and opportunity to comment was published in the Anchorage Daily News on Oct. 27 and Nov. 10, and in the Arctic Sounder on Nov.3 and Nov. 17 with a deadline for comments of Nov. 27. Additionally, a copy of the notice was posted on DNR’s website and faxes of the public notice were sent to the Nuiqsut, Deadhorse and Utqiaġvik post offices. No comments were received.
Conditions of approval To protect the state’s interest, the division amended the plan to incorporate numerous conditions of approval, such as CPAI has to defend, “indemnify and hold the State of Alaska harmless from and against any and all claims, damages, suits, losses, liabilities and expenses for injury to or death of persons and damage to or loss of property arising out of or in connection with the entry on and use of State lands authorized under this approval by the applicant, its contractors, subcontractors and their employees.”
Another condition was that CPAI “shall provide suitable transportation, as determined by the Division, to conduct agency inspections during and after any operations conducted. This stipulation is required to ensure that DNR meets its statutory responsibilities for monitoring activities taking place on State-owned lands.”
Check with the division for the full list.
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