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BP to drill appraisal well in western Prudhoe Bay
Kristen Nelson Petroleum News Editor-in-Chief
BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. has applied to the state of Alaska to drill an appraisal well in the western part of the Prudhoe Bay unit this winter, the Prudhoe Bay unit I-100 well.
The state said BP drilled the NWE 4-01 exploratory well from the same surface location in the winter of 2002.
The western Prudhoe Bay satellites are an area the unit owners have been developing in recent years, with accumulations now online at Aurora, Borealis, Midnight Sun, Orion and Polaris. Production began from Midnight Sun in 1998, Polaris (a Schrader Bluff accumulation) in 1999, Aurora in 2000, Borealis in 2001 and Orion in 2002.
For this winter’s work, BP will build two short ice access roads and one 400-foot by 400-foot ice pad, with one well planned from the ice pad in the first quarter.
The well is on a state lease in section 20, township 12 north, range 11 east, Umiat Meridian, approximately 25 miles northwest of Deadhorse on the east side of the Milne Point Spine Road at mile 4.5. NWE 04-01 drilled in 2002 BP drilled the Prudhoe Bay Unit NWE 04-01 well in 2002, also in section 20-T12N-R11E, UM. Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission records show it as a suspended oil well in the Orion Schrader Bluff formation. It was drilled as an exploratory well and has a total depth of 9,125 feet and a true vertical depth of 4,256 feet.
BP told the state in its application that the Prudhoe Bay unit I-100 appraisal well will “delineate hydrocarbon prospectivity” in the western part of the Prudhoe Bay unit. The Milne Point unit is some 1.5 miles to the north of the proposed ice pad; the Kuparuk River unit is some 2 miles to the west.
BP said it considered factors such as avoiding Native allotments, archaeological sites, traditional land use sites and high-value wildlife habitat in its selection of the pad location. “Another factor in site selection was to locate the pad to minimize the number of future exploration/appraisal wells needed prior to development. If sufficient hydrocarbon reserves are found, the exploration well may be reused as a production well,” the company told the state.
BP said it would start ice construction in late December or early 2005, as soon as site conditions allow, and plans to have the ice pad complete by the end of January, with drilling scheduled to begin in early February. The well would be completed and the rig demobilized by late March. Depending on drilling results, BP said it might test the well in late March to mid-April, with all equipment demobilized prior to the closing of off-road travel or mid-May, whichever is earlier.
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