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Eni on target for December start of drilling at Nikaitchuq North
Eni US Operating Co. remains on target to start drilling into its federal Nikaitchuq North leases on the Beaufort Sea outer continental shelf in mid-December, Whitney Grande, Eni U.S. vice president, environment and quality, told the Resource Development Council’s annual conference on Nov. 15. Eni has been making some modifications to the Doyon Rig 15 that the company uses in its Nikaitchuq field, to enable the rig to conduct the exceptionally long extended reach wells needed for Nikaitchuq North.
“Most of that work is complete,” Grande said. “We’re getting ready to commission that rig in the next couple of weeks.”
He said that the state has approved Eni’s oil spill contingency plan for the drilling project and that the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement and the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission are conducting final reviews of Eni’s drilling permit application.
The federal leases for Nikaitchuq North lie immediately north of the state leases in the existing Nikaitchuq field, offshore the central North Slope, west of Prudhoe Bay. Given that the Nikaitchuq North leases expire at the end of December, Eni must start drilling by then.
Increase Nikaitchuq reserves Whitney said that Eni is very hopeful that the company’s Nikaitchuq North drilling will discover new oil resources that can perhaps double the resource base at Nikaitchuq. However, he emphasized that, with no previous wells having been drilled in the Nikaitchuq North area, the planned well will be a wildcat well.
Eni plans to drill this winter’s well from an existing Nikaitchuq drill site on the artificial Spy Island, out to a total well reach of 35,000 feet. The company expects the drilling to take 70 to 80 days to complete.
“It will be the longest extended reach well in the state,” Grande said.
Eni’s Nikaitchuq North exploration plan has previously indicated that, following flow testing of this winter’s well, the company may proceed to drill a sidetrack well. And success with the drilling could lead to the drilling of a second extended reach well in the following winter.
Grande commented that winter drilling appears to be the prudent approach for a Nikaitchuq North well.
Use existing infrastructure Grande emphasized that the Nikaitchuq North drilling is using the existing Nikaitchuq infrastructure, with the only infrastructure modifications being the upgrades to the drilling rig. The existing production facilities are currently handling production of 20,000 to 25,000 barrels per day from the state leases at the existing Nikaitchuq field. And, with a capacity of 40,000 barrels per day, expandable to some 50,000 barrels per day with some capital improvements, the facilities have room for production expansion, should Nikaitchuq North pan out.
With oil production from the existing Nikaitchuq field starting in 2011, investment in the field has amounted to more than $2 billion - the field has produced more than 30 million barrels of oil to date. Typically 300 to 350 people are working at the field at any one time. To date, Eni has drilled more than 1 million feet of pipe in the field, involving more than 70 well bores, Grande said.
In the course of developing the Nikaitchuq field, Eni has drilled a 25,000-foot extended reach well, Grande said. With lessons learned in the field, including extended reach drilling, the company decided that it could try for a Nikaitchuq North development, drilling from the Spy Island site, he said.
“So we’re using that same best practice, that same technology and moving it out to reach this federal lease,” Grande said.
Eni became operator of the Nikaitchuq North leases in May 2016; in February 2017 the company obtained unitization of the leases; and in July 2017 the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management approved Eni’s Nikaitchuq North exploration plan.
Three centers Grande said that the Nikaitchuq field has three centers: the Spy Island drill site, the onshore field production facilities at Oliktok Point; and the onshore Nikaitchuq Operations Center.
The Spy Island site, constructed from gravel in a water depth of six to eight feet, is inshore of the natural Spy Island barrier island to the north. The barrier island provides important protection for the artificial island from the movement of sea ice, Grande said.
A subsea pipeline carries produced fluids to the Oliktok Point production facilities. Eni also has a Nikaitchuq drilling pad at Oliktok Point.
The operations center accommodates the field’s personnel camp and other facilities, including cold storage and medical facilities. The 200-bed camp at the center is brand new and is reputed to be one of the best camps on the North Slope, Grande said.
- ALAN BAILEY
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