AOGCC OKs Polaris pool rules

Kristen Nelson, PNA editor-in-chief

The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has approved BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc.'s application for pool rules at the viscous oil Polaris field, a west Prudhoe Bay unit satellite (see story in Dec. 29 issue of PNA).

Polaris includes both the Schrader Bluff formation and the shallower Ugnu. BP provided no plans for Ugnu development and told the commission that initial production is planned only from Schrader Bluff sands.

The company asked for a pool definition for the accumulation of hydrocarbons correlating with the interval in the Prudhoe Bay unit S-200PB1 well from 5,393 feet measured depth to 6,012 feet MD. The shallower portion, the interval between 5,393 feet and 5,603 feet, is the Ugnu formation; the interval between 5,603 feet and 6,012 feet is the Schrader Bluff formation.

The commission defined the Polaris pool "as the accumulation of hydrocarbons common to, and correlating with, the interval between 5,544 feet and 6,012 feet measured depth MD in well PBU S-200PB1."

Commissioner Dan Seamount told Petroleum News Alaska that a test is proposed for the shallower zone. He said 5,544 feet was selected as the cutoff point for the pool definition because there appears to be continuous Ugnu oil below 5,544 feet, but not below 5,393 feet.

The commission noted in its Feb. 4 order that BP amended its original application and withdrew its request for approval of injection of miscible injectant as part of the current enhanced oil recovery project.