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Commission pursues NPR-A legacy wells
Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has been trying to get a full understanding of National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska legacy well issues since late 2005, commission Chair Cathy Foerster said at a Dec. 5 public meeting.
At a hearing this summer in Washington, D.C., Foerster said the federal Bureau of Land Management, which manages NPR-A, promised to provide data on the wells, but lacking data from BLM, the commission decided to start working through wells a few at a time, she said.
In October the commission discussed 10 shallow holes, soil integrity tests, not deeper than 50 feet and without American Petroleum Institute well numbers. These holes are pretty much healed, Foerster said, and are off the concerns list.
Guy Schwartz, a petroleum engineer with the commission, reviewed data on a group of Umiat and Simpson wells. He described data that the commission had on the wells, and work which had been done to plug them, although the commission ended up with questions about most of the wells, including why the wellheads had not been removed.
Schwartz said that information from BLM indicated the well heads presented a historic preservation issue.
Historic preservation State Historic Preservation Officer Judith Bittner was present and described the historic preservation system for the commission.
Commissioner John Norman outlined safety concerns he had about wellheads left standing where they could pose a hazard to snow machines and Bittner indicated they would never say a safety hazard needed to remain in place.
Schwartz had said some of the old wellheads had been removed and the records indicated they had been stored for preservation.
Asked about preservation plans for large infrastructure such as the trans-Alaska oil pipeline and Prudhoe Bay, Bittner said probably very little of that would be preserved in place, but paper records, such as as-builts for the line and facilities, would be preserved in the archives.
Bud Cribley, BLM Alaska state director, told the commission BLM is committed to resolution of the legacy well issues and is trying to understand the process and how the commission will work with BLM to address the issue.
Cribley suggested that BLM staff work with commission staff on reviewing the wells, and said BLM would put together a letter on how the agency would work with the commission.
On the issue of preserving wellheads from legacy wells, Cribley said that in consultations with North Slope Natives BLM had been told that the old wellheads should be left in place because they had been there so long that they are used as way markers, aids in navigation on the North Slope.
Commission plugging and abandonment regulations require removal of wellheads.
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