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State approves Milne Point unit 39th POD
Hilcorp’s annual plan of development for North Slope unit includes up to 17 new wells, 20 well workovers, 6 major facility projects Kay Cashman Petroleum News
Hilcorp Alaska’s 39th plan of development for the North Slope Milne Point unit filed on Oct. 14 was approved by Alaska’s Division of Oil and Gas on Nov. 25. In the POD period of Jan. 13, 2021, through Jan. 12, 2022, the company anticipates drilling up to 17 new wells, completing as many as 20 well workovers with the ASRI rig, and undertaking six major facility projects, including polymer facility installation and startups at Moose Pad, I Pad and E Pad, as well as a fuel gas compressor installation and startup and a G Pad replacement test separator installation.
The 50,000-acre Milne Point unit was formed in September 1979. Hilcorp, a privately held independent, acquired a 50% working interest in the oil field in November 2014 from major BP Exploration (Alaska) and took over operatorship. Today, Hilcorp holds a 100% working interest in Milne Point.
Drilling candidates The 17 new wells that Hilcorp expects to drill are 14 I Pad Schrader Bluff wells (six injectors, eight producers) and three J Pad Schrader Bluff wells (two injectors, one producer).
Other 39th POD projects might include, but are not limited to, B Pad gas injection compressor installation and startup; V-5304 grid replacement; S Pad test separator replacement; S Pad polymer engineering and procurement; Solar Titan 130 power generator engineering and procurement; and diesel tank to slop oil tank conversion.
In the future the company will also be evaluating drilling opportunities on undeveloped acreage in the northwest of the unit, particularly in the net profit share leases, as well as previously developed acreage from I, H and S pads in the Schrader Bluff participating area.
Also in the future Hilcorp will be likely be continuing expansion of polymer injection into the Schrader Bluff reservoir in horizontal well patterns beyond current polymer injection pilots at J and L pads, as well as evaluating continued performance from Ugnu horizontal producing well S-203 to help decide on a future Ugnu development strategy.
Infill drilling opportunities in the Kuparuk sands via conventional and coiled tubing drilling will also be considered in the future.
Field production Since inception, approximately 370 million barrels of oil have been produced from Milne Point.
Known for rejuvenating aging oil and gas fields that have long been in decline and maintaining or growing production, Hilcorp pursued that strategy at the Milne Point unit.
When the company took over as operator in November 2014, the unit was producing 18,400 barrels of oil per day.
From Jan. 1 through Aug. 31 of this year the average daily production rate from Milne Point was 32,407 bpd. In September the unit averaged 33,038 bpd, down 0.1%, 31 bpd, from an August average of 33,069, but up 5.9% from a September 2019 average of 31,192 bpd.
Milne Point consists of the Kuparuk reservoir in the Kuparuk participating area, the Schrader Bluff reservoir in the Schrader Bluff PA and the Sag River reservoir in the Sag River PA.
Additionally, the unit includes the following tract operations: C-15A, S-90, C-23, K-33, MPS-37, MPS-39, MPS-41, MPS-43, B-30, C-46 and S-203.
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