|
Hilcorp Alaska expanding Milne Point pad Expansion would accommodate as many as five wells at the northern end of the pad, part of a larger development program at field ERIC LIDJI For Petroleum News
Hilcorp Alaska LLC wants to expand an existing drilling pad at the Milne Point unit to support a five-well development program, the company recently told state officials.
The local subsidiary of the Texas-based independent wants to increase the L pad by approximately 1.66 acres to accommodate increased activity at the North Slope unit.
“When the drill rigs are positioned on the well heads, there is not enough space for the entire drill rig, between the well head and the pad edge,” the company told the Alaska Department of Natural Resources in a permitting application filed in early May.
Construction work would begin this summer in preparation for drilling activities, which would occur between September 2016 and October 2017, according to the company.
The state is taking comments on the project through June 23.
Broader development program Hilcorp recently proposed a major development program at Milne Point.
A proposal submitted to state officials earlier this year called for drilling eight new wells at five pads targeting three of the four formations present at the North Slope unit, working over as many as 16 existing wells, constructing a new pad in the western end of the unit and expanding other infrastructure to accommodate increased oil production.
The request to expand L pad appears to come in addition to those earlier plans.
In a plan of development submitted to the state in early May, Hilcorp proposed drilling 10 wells by July 31, 2017: a producer and injector pair at L pad, a producer and injector pair at B pad, two producers and two injectors at J pad, one producer at K pad and one producer at C pad. (Of those, two producers were already completed earlier this year.)
Between August 2015 and February 2016, Hilcorp completed four new development wells at L pad: the L-46 and L-47 producers and the L-48 and L-49 injectors.
Those four wells were drilled at the southeast corner of the pad. The proposed expansion would add approximately 17,000 cubic yards of gravel to the northern end of the pad.
Earlier this year, Hilcorp asked the state to expand the Milne Point B Pad by 5.3 acres to allow for “additional offloading facilities, transport truck lanes and support facilities” for the existing grind and inject facility, which would accommodate increased drilling.
L pad is located in the northern end of the unit. B pad is located in the eastern end.
The plan of development also proposed a Moose Pad Development Project to build a drilling pad and access road on leases ADL 25514 and ADL 25515, at the western edge of the unit. The proposal is “contingent on market conditions,” according to Hilcorp.
| 