Ahtna completes operations at Tolsona

Ahtna Inc. has concluded operations at the drilling site for its Tolsona No. 1 well, about 11.5 miles west of Glennallen, the Native regional corporation for the Copper River region said Jan. 6. After completing the drilling of the well in early December the drill crew conducted some initial flow testing in the well, to test for a potential natural gas resource. The well has now been suspended and all equipment, materials and personnel demobilized from the site.

Ahtna has not announced any findings from the flow testing and says that it will take several months to fully evaluate the data obtained from the well. The corporation is seeking a gas resource that can be viably developed to alleviate the high cost of energy in the region.

The area in which the well was drilled is known to be gas prone. But a previous well drilled nearby, while finding gas, ran into significant issues arising from exceptionally high subsurface pressures and water encroachment. The design for the Tolsona well took into account the need to deal with the high-pressure challenges.

However, the new well did prove very challenging to drill, given the complexities of the geology. Targeting a potential gas reservoir in the Nelchina sandstone, the well had to be drilled 700 feet deeper than had been planned - ultimately the well reached a vertical depth of about 5,500 feet.

- ALAN BAILEY