Hilcorp planning new Ninilchik pad

Hilcorp Alaska LLC wants to a build a new drilling pad to support a one-well delineation program on private lands located just beyond the southern boundary of the Ninilchik unit.

The local subsidiary of the Texas-based independent plans to drill and test a gas well at the Pearl pad at the coastal Cook Inlet unit, according to recent permitting documents.

The proposed 3.77-acre gravel pad would be on private surface lands on the Kenai Peninsula. The company is also planning a new gravel access road to connect the proposed pad to Woodsong Court, which in turn connects to the Sterling Highway. The company told state regulators that it would widen the intersection of Woodsong Court and the Sterling Highway, presumably to accommodate the increased truck traffic.

The state is accepting comments on the plan through July 17.

Since taking over the Ninilchik unit, Hilcorp has been drilling exploration or delineation wells between existing drilling pads. The company built the Bartolowitz pad within the unit and the Greystone pad just beyond the unit boundaries. The proposed drilling pad would target a section south of the existing Susan Dionne-Paxton participating area.

Hilcorp plans to use the Schlumberger Drilling SLR 169 rig for the program.

The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission issued a permit on June 13 for Hilcorp to drill the Pearl No. 1A stratigraphic test well.

- ERIC LIDJI