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Armstrong plans 2-well program
Armstrong Energy LLC plans to drill two wells at the Pikka unit this coming winter and the results could prompt revisions to preliminary engineering work already underway.
A local subsidiary of the Denver-based independent plans to drill the Pikka No. 2 well and Pikka No. 2A sidetrack in the southern portion of the North Slope unit early next year, according to a plan of exploration filed with state officials in late September.
The company expects the delineation program to provide considerable subsurface information about the southern half of the proposed Nanushuk development area, which has received less attention than the northern half. The results of the program could have “have significant impact on the subsurface basis of design,” according to the company.
Armstrong plans to drill the wells on ADL 392975 and ADL 393028, immediately north of the location of the proposed Pikka No. 1 well that the company began permitting for this past winter but ultimately cancelled at the request of local groups in Nuiqsut.
At that time, Armstrong negotiated a deal with ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. to share information about the Putu No. 1 well. ConocoPhillips was planning to drill the Putu well immediately south of the Colville River unit, on leases in the former Tofkat unit.
ConocoPhillips ultimately postponed the Putu well, in the face of local concerns and a regulatory stalemate. With both resolved, ConocoPhillips intends to proceed with the Putu program this year. According to Armstrong, the sharing agreement remains in effect, providing another source of subsurface information that could change designs.
Work plans The results of the upcoming season could prompt revisions of early engineering and design work and the reservoir modeling Armstrong has been pursuing over the past year.
For example, core samples from Qugruk No. 8 were unsuitable for analyses related to flow assurance, prompting the company to include core sampling in the upcoming wells.
The early engineering and design - pre-FEED - to date has included work on the Nanushuk Central Processing Facility, drill sites A, B and C, infield and export pipelines and gravel roads and pads, as well as studies of the transportation route from bringing modules to the region, hydrology of the Colville River Delta and efforts to debottleneck and potentially expand the Seawater Treatment Plant at the Colville River unit.
Armstrong completed these projects before finalizing subsurface design “in an effort to progress the Nanushuk project as expeditiously and efficiently as possible,” according to the company. As such, the results of the two upcoming exploration programs could “necessitate significant modification to the current subsurface basis of design.”
- ERIC LIDJI
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