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Pantheon confirms oilfield discovery
New Brookian oil pool penetrated by Alkaid well is at convenient location near Dalton Highway and TAPS south of Prudhoe Bay Alan Bailey Petroleum News
In an April 2 news release Pantheon Resources commented that flow testing in the Alkaid No. 1 well has confirmed a new oil field discovery, just west of the Dalton Highway, south of the Prudhoe Bay unit. The company is applying to the state for permission to suspend and freeze protect the well, for future use in a field development. Moreover, the company now views another potential nearby drilling project, into what is called the Phecda prospect, as an appraisal well for the Alkaid discovery, rather than a standalone exploration well.
Pantheon says that the proximity of the new find to the Dalton Highway and the trans-Alaska pipeline should enable a shorter permitting and development schedule than is typical for the North Slope.
As previously reported in Petroleum News, Pantheon has confirmed the successful flow testing of the oil discovery in the Brookian sequence in the Alkaid well. The test flowed 80 to 100 barrels of 40 API oil per day from a vertical perforated interval through the reservoir - horizontal wells that would be used in a field development would enable much higher flow rates, the company said. The zone of interest in the Brookian is estimated to have 240 feet of net pay within 400 feet of reservoir rock.
Testing of secondary targets at shallower depths proved less successful, with brackish water being found in the West Sak and also inferred to be present in the Ugnu.
Drilled in 2015 Great Bear Petroleum drilled the Alkaid well in 2015 as a vertical test well but was unable to conduct flow testing in the well because the drilling program was cut short by flooding on the Dalton Highway. The company had previously carried out an extensive program of 3-D seismic surveying in its acreage and had identified several oil prospects, including the Alkaid. The subsequent suspension of payments of state exploration tax credits under the administration of former Gov. Bill Walker resulted in a pause in Great Bear’s exploration program.
Meanwhile the Alkaid well was suspended until such time as that testing could be done.
London-based Pantheon Resources acquired the assets of Great Bear Petroleum in January of this year, with the consequence, in effect, of merging the two companies. Pantheon subsequently elected to proceed with the Alkaid well testing.
Phecda prospect Pantheon now says that the positive result from the Alkaid well, together with data from Great Bear’s 3-D seismic, has “positive implications” for the Phecda prospect - Great Bear had identified Phecda as a potential drilling target. Pantheon has now upgraded Phecda and views this prospect as a step out appraisal for the Alkaid discovery, the company said.
“These two projects will now likely be part of a single development plan, favorably located adjacent to the Dalton Highway and TAPS pipeline,” Pantheon said. “The better than expected results in the zone of interest will also impact the pre-drill P50 technically recoverable resource estimates which will be assessed in the near future.”
Pantheon holds a 100 percent interest in the production testing operations. Joint venture partner Halliburton would kick in with a 25 percent share in the event of a plug and abandon operation, with Halliburton also having the right to buy pack into a 25 percent working interest in the prospect.
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