Anadarko cuts hydrate project back to one well

Kay Cashman, PNA publisher

In an effort to save money Anadarko Petroleum Corp. has decided to drill one, not two, gas hydrate wells on the North Slope this winter. Anadarko spokeswoman Anne Vincent told PNA Oct. 17 that the “hot ice” well will be drilled on 100 percent Anadarko-owned acreage “that lies a little northwest of the Whiskey Gulch prospect area.”

The Whiskey Gulch oil prospect is 20 miles south of the Kuparuk operations center.

Anadarko already has permits from last year to drill two conventional wells in that area. Those wells were permitted as back-up wells for the company’s Altamura prospect in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, which the company drilled last winter.

Vincent says a mineral coring rig from Dynatec in Salt Lake City will be used to drill the 1,500 to 3,500 foot hot ice well.

The gas hydrate research project is partly funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, with $3.99 million expected to come from DOE and $3.37 from three private companies — Houston-based Maurer Technology Inc., the lead contractor, and its partners Noble Engineering and Development Ltd., both subsidiaries of Noble Drilling Corp., and Anadarko.