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Conoco applies to expand Colville CD-2 pad Corps says work would support Fiord West development, with as many as 32 new wells, some 20,000 bpd depending on timing, targets Kristen Nelson
ConocoPhillips Alaska has applied to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for gravel placement to expand the existing CD-2 pad in the Colville River unit for development of oil from Fiord West.
The application is for placement of 73,000 cubic yards of gravel fill into 5.8 acres of wetlands to expand the CD-2 pad to the west, an area which would be called CD-2X.
The corps said the addition would allow for as many as 32 additional wells, vertical support members, 60-foot pipe racks, 20-foot transitional pipe rack, 100-foot high mast light, insulated conductors and thermosyphons.
Production from the original CD-1 and CD-2 pads at Alpine began in 2000 (CD-1) and 2001 (CD-2).
The corps said the original design for the CD-2 pad was based on Alpine seismic data available at that time and since then additional targets have been identified in the CD-2 area and technology has improved, resulting in more economically feasible targets.
CD-2 was expanded in 2006 to accommodate 18 new wells and associated infrastructure for Qannik development.
The corps said production rates from CD-2 could potentially increase by some 20,000 barrels per day as a result of the CD-2X expansion, with production increases dependent on project timing and selected reservoir targets.
New rig ordered ConocoPhillips commissioned a new extended reach drilling rig from Doyon Drilling last year and the company said at that time that the rig would originally target Fiord West at the extreme northwest of the Colville River unit.
The company said the rig would increase the surface area that could be accessed from a single drill site from 55 square miles to 125 square miles, with the new rig able to drill distances of more than 33,000 feet, compared with the 22,000-foot reach of current rigs.
The company said when the rig was announced that it would allow development of Fiord West from an existing pad, either CD-2 or CD-5, avoiding the need to build and access a new drilling pad.
The new rig will feature a powerful top drive, capable of delivering the necessary torque to the long subsurface drill pipe, and will include high capacity pumps to push the drilling mud at relatively high pressure. The rig will handle casing longer and heavier than normal, with a surface casing diameter of 16 inches rather than the traditional 12.5 inches, requiring the rig derrick to have the capacity to handle more steel than in a traditional rig.
West Fiord leases West Fiord is being developed based on an agreement with the state allowing ConocoPhillips to continue to hold the leases in that area if the first well is spud at Fiord West by June 30, 2021, and first oil production by Nov. 30, 2022.
Existing Alpine infrastructure will be used for power generation, gas and water treatment and production processing, and personnel will be housed in existing camps and/or hotels during construction and operation, eliminating the need to design a larger CD-2 pad to accommodate permanent housing.
The corps said the seasonal Alpine resupply ice road would be used to transport travel from Mine Site C or the ASRC Mine Site with all CD-2 pad expansion construction to be during the winter when soils are frozen. Access to the area for construction will be via the existing gravel pad and gravel harvest and construction will take place over a single winter season to avoid the need for construction of a gravel stockpile pad.
Construction dates were not given in the corps notice.
ConocoPhillips spokeswoman Natalie Lowman told Petroleum News in an Oct. 18 email that extension pad construction depended on the timing of permitting. She also said Fiord West development has not yet been sanctioned for funding.
The corps notice was published Oct. 17; the corps is taking comments through Nov. 16.
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