|
AOGCC fines Linc for lack of data Says that company should have provided survey data, core analysis reports and log data for three coal gasification appraisal wells ALAN BAILEY Petroleum News
The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission is fining Linc Energy Operations Inc. $20,000 for the company’s failure to provide the commission with some data and reports relating to three wells that the company has drilled onshore on the west side of Cook Inlet.
The wells involved, the Tyex-01, Tyex-01X and Keex-02 wells, form part of a program that Linc is conducting to assess the feasibility of underground coal gasification in the Cook Inlet basin. Underground coal gasification involves igniting underground coal seams and injecting steam and air into the seams. The process results in the conversion of much of the coal into synthetic gas which can be used for power generation or for conversion into conventional natural gas. There are abundant coal seams at a variety of depths in the basin.
Linc drilled the Tyex-01, Tyex-01X and Keex-02 wells in 2012 to depths ranging from 1,450 to 1,700 feet.
AOGCC said in a July 1 order that Linc infringed state regulations by failing to submit inclination surveys, core analysis reports and digital log data for the wells. Linc also failed to respond to commission requests for the information, AOGCC said.
Informal review Following a notice of proposed enforcement, issued by the commission on April 3, Linc requested and was granted an informal review of the situation. At that conference Linc told the commission that the company had been acting in good faith and that compliance with the commission’s requests would not have significantly added to the contents of the commission’s database.
The commission subsequently concluded that Linc had failed to collect the required inclination survey information; to understand and implement all of the conditions associated with the company’s permits to drill; and to collect required core chips from two of the wells. The company had also failed to provide some other material and laboratory analysis associated with well cores and failed to respond to several requests for information, the commission found.
The commission has, as a consequence, imposed a civil penalty of $20,000 on Linc. The commission also requires Linc to provide all of the required information by Aug. 1, or prove to the satisfaction of the commission that the information does not exist. Linc must also provide a written plan that will ensure that the company’s future Alaska operations comply with state regulations.
| 