|
Greater Point McIntyre area POD approved
Participating areas in GPMA have produced cumulative 805 million barrels as of end of March; April-March average some 27,900 bpd Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Oil and Gas has approved the 2020 plan of development for the Greater Point McIntyre area at the Prudhoe Bay unit.
The plan was submitted by BP Exploration (Alaska) in June, prior to the sale of that company’s Alaska assets to Hilcorp; the approval was issued to Hilcorp North Slope, since July 1 the Prudhoe Bay operator.
There are six participating areas at the GPMA, the division said: combined Niakuk, Lisburne, North Prudhoe Bay, Point McIntyre, Raven and West Beach.
Initial production at GPMA began with the Lisburne PA in 1986; that PA is producing from the Wahoo and Alapah formations.
North Prudhoe Bay, which began production in the early ’90s, has been shut-in since 2000. West Beach, where production also began at about the same time, has been effectively shut-in since 2001, although the division said it did produce briefly in 2009.
Production at the Point McIntyre and combined Niakuk PAs is from the Kuparuk River formation.
Raven, the most recently formed PA at Greater Point McIntyre, began sustained production in 2005 from the Ivishak and Sag River formations.
Cumulative production from the GPMA PAs, through the end of March, was 805 million barrels of hydrocarbon liquids. Production from GPMA averaged 27,900 bpd from April 1, 2019, through March 31, 2020, “a decrease of approximately 2,900 barrels per day from the same period the previous year,” the division said.
Lisburne PA BP planned four additional wells at the Lisburne PA during the 2019 POD period, plus non-rig rate-adding opportunities. The division said four wells were completed in that PA last year. A fifth well was completed in this year along with one workover. There were also 55 total rate-adding non-rig interventions.
BP told the division in its 2020 POD that it had “matured” six drilling opportunities - two coiled tubing and four rotary. The division said that “several additional Lisburne opportunities are being considered for future drilling by Hilcorp, with additional rate-adding non-rig interventions planned.”
North Prudhoe Bay PA The division said the North Prudhoe PA continued to be shut-in during the 2019 POD “because of safety and environmental concerns.”
For the 2020 POD, work continues to identify opportunities from maps generated by the 2014-15 North Prudhoe Seismic Survey. “Repairs to the West Beach pad, from which North Prudhoe Bay wells are drilled, have been identified,” the division said.
Combined Niakuk PA BP completed nine rate-adding jobs on six Niakuk wells during the 2019 POD period, and continued waterflood to maintain production.
For 2020, BP told the division it “expects that long-term production rates will continue to naturally decline due to increasing water cuts.”
Data from the North Prudhoe seismic survey will be used for reservoir management and to analyze compartmentalization.
Point McIntyre PA BP maintained production at the Point McIntyre PA through waterflood, miscible gas injection and routine scale inhabitation during the 2019 POD, along with continued engineering work on the seawater treatment plant 36-inch pipeline to reduce vibration and increase throughput.
BP told the division that during the 2020 POD it “expects that long-term production rates will continue natural decline due to increasing water cuts and gas-oil ratios.”
Hilcorp will continue investigation of injection well repairs at the P2-34 well to allow miscible injectant and will also evaluate offset wells to other miscible injectant wells.
Raven PA BP perforated a well at Raven PA into the Sag River formation to test for productivity during the 2019 POD, and while the well was productive, it produced at 96% water cut, the division said.
BP also brought the NK-08B well online during the 2019 POD; that well continues to produce as a tract operation.
During the 2020 POD, Hilcorp plans to evaluate future drilling locations at Raven through evaluation of the North Prudhoe seismic survey, the division said.
West Beach PA The West Beach PA has been shut-in since 2009, the division said.
Surface kit at West Beach has been evaluated and surface repairs identified, and engineering work will continue, with prospect identification possible through interpretation and structure mapping of the North Prudhoe seismic survey.
| 