Unocal on third Nikolaevsk unit gas exploration well

Kristen Nelson

Unocal has drilled and is evaluating two exploration gas wells at its Nikolaevsk exploration unit on the lower Kenai Peninsula in Southcentral Alaska. The Red No. 1 well, in the southwestern area of the unit, has been drilled and is being evaluated, Unocal Alaska spokeswoman Roxanne Sinz told Petroleum News in mid-August. Sinz said Unocal was “drilling ahead” on the Red No. 2 well.

Both Red wells were permitted from surface locations in section 8, township 4 south, range 13 west, Seward Meridian. The proposed bottomhole for the Red No. 1 is in section 8; the proposed bottomhole for Red No. 2 is in section 7.

Sinz also said Unocal has also drilled the Star No. 1 on the Star pad.

This well was permitted with a surface location in section 24, township 3 south, range 14 west, Seward Meridian; the proposed bottomhole is in section 23. This location puts the Star pad and well in the northeastern area of the Nikolaevsk unit.

Unocal said in applications to the state in March that the Nikolaevsk wells are “essentially a gas exploration program,” but said the Nikolaevsk unit agreement requires it “to test at potential oil-producing intervals, which may include the Hemlock, West Forelands and Upper Cretaceous formations.” Unocal said those formations lie below the gas target zone at the Red No. 1 well.

The Red pad is the first in an exploration program that “includes up to three new exploration drilling sites for drilling up to four new subsurface targets,” Unocal said.

Site preparation was to begin in March, with drilling expected to take up to three months.

The Red pad is approximately 14 miles southeast of Ninilchik and four miles northeast of the community of Nikolaevsk in an upland logged area. Unocal also proposed a well from the Blue pad, with a surface in section 22, township 3 south, range 13 west, Seward Meridian. That well has not yet been permitted. The state’s approval of the Nikolaevsk unit, extending lease terms in exchange for a drilling commitment, required two exploration wells and seismic over the next three years, with the first well required in the first year of the unit plan, i.e. before the end of January 2005.