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Conoco asks for pool rules for Lookout
Reservoir being developed by new MT6 pad in Greater Mooses Tooth analogous to Alpine, where crude will be processed for shipping Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
ConocoPhillips Alaska began drilling its first well from the MT6 Pad at its Greater Mooses Tooth Unit on March 21, company representatives told the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in an April 3 hearing. The hearing was on establishment of pool rules and an injection order for Lookout, which will be produced from the MT6 Pad. Pool rules and injection orders are a requirement before production can begin. This story is based on a transcript of the presentation and accompanying slides.
The MT6 Pad, from which drilling has begun, is on the southeast edge of the proposed Lookout pool boundary.
John Cookson, a production engineer with ConocoPhillips Alaska, the operator at Greater Mooses Tooth, told the commission MT6 is the sixth drill site connected to the production facilities at the Alpine field and is 14 miles southwest of those facilities. The road from MT6 to CD5 is in place, he said, and the pipeline is being finished up.
Lookout will be the first pool to be developed entirely within the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, where ConocoPhillips’ predecessor ARCO Alaska began 2-D seismic acquisition in 1993, 1995 and 1996, and 3-D acquisition in 1998-2000.
The discovery wells at the accumulation, Lookout 1 and Lookout 2, were drilled in 2001-02. The Greater Mooses Tooth unit was formed in 2008 and expanded in 2009.
ConocoPhillips Alaska developed West Alpine from CD5 in 2016 and in 2016-17 began GMT1 construction and shot 3-D seismic at GMT2.
Current work, as listed on overheads for the presentation, includes final installation of facilities and pipelines at the MT6 Pad and drilling of the first well. There are four pipelines, road and bridges from MT6 to CD5.
The first two production wells and the first injector are targeted to be on production in the fourth quarter of the year.
Cookson said ConocoPhillips will keep the drilling rig at MT6 through 2019 to complete a planned nine well drilling program.
MT6 wells, like those at Alpine, will be horizontal, with lengths up to 22,500 feet.
Reservoir Jennifer Doherty, a development geologist with ConocoPhillips Alaska, said Lookout develops the Alpine C sandstone. The oil at Lookout is a lower Kingak sourced oil, similar to Alpine, she said.
Joe Versteeg, a ConocoPhillips Alaska reservoir engineer, told the commission that the company has low, medium and high cases for original oil in place at Lookout, with estimated volumes of 70 million barrels, 80 million barrels and 150 million barrels. He said primary recovery, without flooding, would probably be 20 percent of OOIP, a range of 14 million, 16 million and 30 million barrels. With primary recovery plus waterflood, recovery is expected to rise to 45 percent, with estimated volumes of 31 million, 36 million and 67 million barrels. And with EWAG, enriched water alternating gas, in addition to primary and waterflood, recovery is expected to be some 60 percent of OOIP, with ranges of 42 million, 48 million and 90 million barrels for the low, medium and high estimates. Versteeg said that EWAG flood would be alternating waterflood with slugs of gas as is done at Alpine.
Peak annual production rates are expected to be 20,000 to 30,000 barrels per day of oil, 20 million to 50 million cubic feet of gas per day, 10,000 to 15,000 bpd of water and 4 million to 12 million cupid feet per day of lift gas.
The company expects to inject 23,000 to 40,000 bpd of water and 10 million to 20 million cubic feet per day of rich gas.
Versteeg said the water volumes would come later in field life as the waterflood matures.
Drilling Brian Noel, a ConocoPhillips Alaska drilling engineer, said nine horizontal wells, four producers and five injectors, are planned. He said the well designs are similar to those at Alpine.
There are three existing wells, Lookout 1, which was suspended in 2003 and is inspected on a regular cycle; Lookout 2 which was plugged and abandoned in 2002, and Mitre 1, also plugged and abandoned in 2002.
Commissioner Cathy Forester asked about plans for Lookout 1. Noel said it’s in the middle of the reservoir and is being kept as an observation well. He also noted that now that the road and pad are in place, plugging and abandoning will be much easier.
Metering Cookson said wells at Lookout will flow to a three-phase separator allowing separation of oil, gas and water so each can be precisely measured for custody transfer. The oil, gas and water are then combined and sent to Alpine in a 20-inch pipeline where Lookout production is combined with Colville River unit production and processed. The oil then goes into the Alpine pipeline.
Production compositions from Lookout are expected to be similar to Alpine; he said the two pools are close analogs because they share a similar geologic history, both charged from the Lower Kingak, and a similar rock deposition source, Alpine A and B.
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