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Big gas find onshore CI NordAq developing Shadura prospect in Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Kay Cashman Petroleum News
NordAq Energy has not officially announced a natural gas discovery at its Shadura prospect in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, but amid rumors of a huge find, the independent recently said it expects to produce “up to 50 million cubic feet” of natural gas per day for Southcentral Alaska consumers over the 30-year life of the project, starting in February 2013.
After months of speculation, NordAq appears to have quietly posted that information on its web page, nordaqenergy.com, on Nov. 4.
The entire Cook Inlet basin produces roughly 245 million cubic feet of natural gas per day, based on a daily average from January through September 2011.
Geologic targets in the Shadura No. 1 exploration well, which NordAq drilled last winter, included the Beluga formation sands between 6,000 and 11,000 feet total vertical depth and upper and middle Tyonek formation sands between 11,000 and 14,500 feet TVD.
Until its recent website posting, about all NordAq President Bob Warthen would say when asked if he had a discovery, was the well confirmed the company’s geological and geophysical models and “we’re permitting surface facilities, you figure it out.”
Shadura gas “can be brought on line quickly,” the company’s website said, noting it initiated development phase permitting Sept. 1 with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages the wildlife refuge, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, followed in October by filings with the State of Alaska.
The Shadura No. 1 wildcat well is west of the Swanson River field on the northern Kenai Peninsula, about five miles northeast of the community of Nikiski.
A 2010 environmental assessment done by Entrix on behalf of NordAq for the exploration program said the Shadura No.1 drill site was “located over the center of the natural gas play.”
Despite a recent snag with the Corps, NordAq said on its website that it expects all permit approvals for the Shadura Natural Gas Development Project to be in hand by January, with road construction to begin that same month.
Road construction begins in January
The company will “install a reduced footprint testing road to verify the resource” before building its 4.2-mile-long, 30-foot wide gravel road “within an 80-foot right-of-way in accordance with right-of-way permits to be issued by the State and Fish and Wildlife Service.”
Similar to NordAq’s 2011 natural gas exploration program for its first Shadura well, the proposed development begins in the Captain Cook State Recreation Area and ends where the gas is: in Cook Inlet Region Inc., or CIRI, subsurface estate under the northwest corner of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.
The ice road to the exploration well was 2.9 miles, versus 4.2 miles for the road to the production pad, probably to avoid high-value wetland and forest habitats.
The gravel road will consist of a 0.3-mile unimproved trail in the Captain Cook State Recreation Area; 1.8 miles of road on State of Alaska land bordering the refuge; and 2.1 miles of road in the refuge. Only the trail in the recreation area will be open to the public.
NordAq’s plan calls for a single, 12.3-acre, gravel drilling and production pad, “as opposed to conventional development with multiple pads,” thus further reducing the field’s environmental impact.
The pad will hold “six natural gas wells, a water well, a Class II injection well,” per NordAq’s website.
A much smaller gravel pad for metering will be placed on State of Alaska land.
Well testing will get started in April, the company said.
Pipeline construction in October 2012 In October 2012, construction is expected to begin on the project’s two 8-inch diameter gathering lines. One fiber optic communications cable will be laid in an adjacent trench.
NordAq said to mitigate the visual impact of the gas field it will “use sweeping zigzags in forest areas and sweeping curves in wetland areas to avoid a linear path and help camouflage the route during operations … burying the natural gas gathering lines and fiber optic cables.”
The company also plans to “maintain hydrologic continuity in streams by constructing clear span bridges.”
The natural gas will be transported from the pad to the “existing ConocoPhillips Alaska Natural Gas, or CPANG, Nikiski pipeline located outside of the refuge boundary. … (The) 4 miles of gravel road and pipeline will be required to test, develop, and transport the natural gas to the Anchorage market. The road, pipeline, and other necessary utilities will be located within an 80-foot right-of-way in accordance with right-of-way permits to be issued by the State and Fish and Wildlife Service,” NordAq said.
Application deemed incomplete The company’s September filing with the Corps included a “Department of the Army Permit application and an ANILCA Title XI application,” Corps spokeswoman Pat Richardson told Petroleum News Nov. 9.
“We determined the application was incomplete, and sent a letter requesting additional information from the applicant on Nov. 1. They have 30 days to provide additional information, or the file will be closed,” she said.
According to Richardson, NordAq’s proposal for Shadura includes “discharging 5,921 cubic yards of gravel into 5.6 acres of wetlands for road/utility line construction, and discharging 35,607 cy of gravel into 5.5 acres of wetlands for the drilling and production pad.”
Careful with the environment
When feasible, NordAq said it plans to use natural gas powered equipment versus diesel-powered equipment to minimize combustion related emissions, including greenhouse gases.
Taking extra precautions to protect the environment is typical of NordAq.
Claire Caldes, oil and gas liaison for the Kenai refuge, told Petroleum News on Jan. 18 that an ice road wasn’t required for NordAq’s exploration last winter, but the company offered to build one.
The ice road route followed wetlands, winding around timber islands so as to avoid tree clearing, Caldes said.
NordAq has the capital State records show NordAq was created in February 2009.
Per its website, NordAq President Bob Warthen is a geologist with 42 years of Cook Inlet exploration and operation experience, including 25 years with Unocal in senior management.
Chief technical officer Hugh North, of England, has 30 years of international exploration experience.
NordAq’s agreement with CIRI to explore, develop and produce the Shadura prospect involves leases CO61647, CO61648 and CO61649, a combined 10,800 acres of the regional Native corporation’s subsurface estate inholdings.
Section 1110(b) of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, or ANILCA, allows for access to CIRI subsurface inholdings within the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge for exploration, testing and development of hydrocarbons.
Agency application documents say NordAq has “a large number of shareholders,” and “access to ample investment capital” to undertake the Shadura gas development.
—Wesley Loy contributed to this story
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