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GBP drilling horizontal section; primary objective Alkaid Anomaly
Kay Cashman Petroleum News
As of Aug. 10, Great Bear Pantheon was six days into the “process of building the curve and drilling the horizontal well,” Patrick Galvin told Petroleum News in regard to the company’s Alaska North Slope Alkaid 2 well.
Galvin is chief commercial office and general counsel for Great Bear Petroleum.
The vertical pilot hole portion of the well was spud July 6.
Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission shows the two segments of Alkaid 2 as Alkaid 2 and Alkaid 2 PH, or pilot hole.
The Alkaid 2 PH was drilled first as a vertical penetration of the Shelf Margin Deltaic, or SMD, through lower Alkaid intervals.
On Aug. 5, operator Great Bear Pantheon came up-hole and kicked off to drill the Alkaid 2 lateral through the target Alkaid interval.
A horizontal long-term test well, Alkaid 2 marks the company’s possible transition from North Slope explorer to producer.
On July 29, Pantheon Resources plc published an operational update for Alkaid 2, identifying itself as an AIM listed oil and gas company with “a 100% working interest in all of its oil projects spanning 153,000 acres adjacent and near to transportation and pipeline infrastructure on the Alaska North Slope”; acreage that includes the Alkaid prospect.
As of July 29, Pantheon said Alkaid 2’s target vertical depth was reached: “The Alkaid 2 pilot hole has now reached a total vertical depth of 8,584 feet, with a measured depth of 8,950 ft, having encountered multiple oil bearing reservoirs in all three targeted formations in the well.”
Those reservoirs, Pantheon said, were “(i) the Shelf Margin Deltaic, (ii) the Alkaid Anomaly, and (iii) the deeper, untested extension of the Alkaid Anomaly (“Alkaid Deep”)”
Initial analysis “indicates significant improvements in reservoir quality which could potentially lead to a material upgrade of the current resource for all targeted horizons,” Pantheon said.
Accurately predict Analysis of data received to date, the company said in its operational update, confirms its “ability to accurately predict the presence of light oil bearing reservoirs using 3D seismic data, geological and geophysical capabilities, further enhancing confidence in development planning and expected outcomes.”
All reservoirs were encountered “on prognosis at predicted depths with reservoir quality exceeding pre-drill expectations,” Pantheon said.
“Alkaid 2 confirms more than 1,400 ft of gross continuous oil bearing strata throughout the section drilled below the regional top seal at 7,165 ft down to at least the 8,584 ft total vertical depth,” Pantheon said.
Under “instruction” from AOGCC “drilling was stopped at 8,584 ft, despite not having reached the bottom of the Alkaid Deep section, to allow a sufficient margin to avoid contact with the high pressure HRZ zone and possible fault,” Pantheon said.
Shelf Margin Deltaic In its July 29 update, Pantheon said analysis confirms the following:
*“The northern extension of the Shelf Margin Deltaic horizon from Talitha in the south to northeast, across the Dalton Highway east of Alkaid 2.”
*Net 272 ft oil bearing reservoir encountered which was thicker and of better reservoir quality than pre-drill estimates.
Alkaid Anomaly Furthermore, Pantheon said, analysis confirms the following about the Alkaid Anomaly:
*Net 155 ft oil bearing reservoir encountered which confirms that the zone extends over the four mile distance between the Alkaid 1 and Alkaid 2 wells.
*Exceeded pre-drill expectation of reservoir thickness and quality.
*Detailed analysis of cuttings and sidewall cores is currently underway to help optimize the completion of the well and long term testing operations.
Alkaid Deep Pantheon’s July 29 operational update also said that the following was true of the Alkaid Deep:
*Drilled 300 ft deeper than Alkaid 1, all of which was oil bearing reservoir. Pantheon estimates the potential for an additional +/- 200 ft of oil bearing section below total depth, or TD.
*Reservoir quality encountered was better than prognosis.
*FMI analysis is currently underway which, once complete, will determine the net reservoir thickness.
Ongoing analysis In regard to ongoing analysis, Pantheon said as of July 29 “sidewall coring has been completed throughout the oil bearing section and analysis is underway.”
Also, comprehensive Volatiles Analysis, or VAS, has “commenced following the collection of sealed well samples every 10 ft throughout the entire target interval from 7,100 ft measured depth to total depth of c.8,950 ft.”
As of July 29, Pantheon said operator Great Bear Pantheon was preparing to move up the wellbore for drilling of the horizontal section in the Alkaid Anomaly, the primary objective, before casing, stimulating and ultimately flow testing the well.
In a development scenario Pantheon said it “believes that in a development scenario, future wells will be drilled with +/- 8,000 ft horizontal sections. However, this being the first well in the area, a more conservative approach will be taken with a shorter lateral simply to minimize operational risk.”
“Pantheon is extremely encouraged by data received to date, however, as always, cautions that a definitive assessment of ultimate commerciality cannot be determined until flow testing has been undertaken.”
About Alkaid 2 By way pf background, Pantheon said the Alkaid 2 well is “located adjacent to the Dalton Highway and Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) which are the main transportation highway and export pipeline, respectively, and approximately 4.5 miles from the Alkaid 1 discovery well drilled in 2015.”
The Alkaid 2 horizontal well is Pantheon’s first long term production test well in Alaska and will utilize “unconventional oil production technologies applied to conventional oil reservoirs to maximize potential reserves and production,” Pantheon said.
Additionally, the “Greater Alkaid oil accumulation sits underneath and adjacent to the TAPS pipeline and the Dalton Highway which is a material financial and operational advantage to Pantheon as it is ideal for year-round ‘Phased Development.’”
This, Pantheon said, would “minimize upfront capital expenditure and allow production revenues to partly fund future capital needs.”
Rosenthal upbeat Bob Rosenthal, technical director for Pantheon, said July 29: “Confirming the presence of the various horizons exactly in the locations we expected gives us great confidence in our subsurface modelling efficacy.
“The results of logging while drilling demonstrates the clear potential for a material upgrade of both the current Alkaid and SMD resources. Though we were unable to assess the maximum depth of Alkaid Deep due to the regulator’s requirements, the entire section that we did log was oil saturated giving which is extremely promising.
“Alkaid 2 marks Pantheon’s transitioning process from explorer to producer, where we now begin to focus on optimizing the development of these large resources. The potential development of two large and separate oil fields sitting on top of each other, the SMD and Alkaid Anomaly respectively, utilizing the same production infrastructure on the Dalton Highway with near term production opportunity, is rare and very exciting,” Rosenthal said.
- KAY CASHMAN
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