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Aurora Gas plans Cook Inlet exploration Natural gas producer asking DEC for contingency plan for six prospects, four on west side, one near Kenai, one east of Anchor Point KRISTEN NELSON Petroleum News
Aurora Gas has an application in with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation for drilling at six prospects, four on the west side of Cook Inlet and two on the Kenai Peninsula.
Aurora Gas, established by Aurora Power Resources in 2000 as an exploration and production arm, has production and shallow natural gas prospects on the west side of Cook Inlet, and prospects on the Kenai Peninsula. The company holds some 32,000 acres of state oil and gas acreage.
The DEC application is for an oil discharge prevention and contingency plan renewal covering six prospects: Chickalusion, Three Mile Creek Deep, Congahbuna Lake, Nicolai Footwall, Forest Lake and West Eagle, the first four of which are on the west side, while Forest Lake is near Kenai and West Eagle is east of Anchor Point.
Same rig on west side For all of the west side wells the company is proposing to use the Aurora Well Service No. 1 rig or another suitable rig. That is also the rig proposed for the Forest Lake prospect. For West Eagle, however, Aurora is proposing to use Cook Inlet Energy’s Rig No. 37, formerly Glacier Rig No. 1.
Some road work is needed for west side prospects and for the Forest Lake well on the Kenai Peninsula.
For the Chickalusion prospect, which has one potential drilling location and up to two wells at section 33, township 12 north, range 11 west, Seward Meridian, existing roads in the Tyonek/Beluga area and oilfield roads will be used to get near the drill site and about 1/2 mile of new access road will be required to get to the actual drilling location, some 4 miles west of Tyonek.
The drill site and access road are on land owned by Tyonek Native Corp.; Cook Inlet Region Inc. has subsurface rights to both the drilling location and gravel pits.
There will be limited lodging onsite for supervisory personnel with support personnel to be housed at Shirleyville Camp.
Three Mile Creek Deep, Congahbuna Lake The Three Mile Creek Deep prospect well has one drill site at 34-T13N-R11W, SM, with up to two wells. The site is some 8 miles north of Tyonek and is accessed by road systems in the Tyonek/Beluga area and existing oilfield roads, with some 1/2 mile of new access road required. The drilling location is on lands managed by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources which also has subsurface rights at the location. Limited lodging will be provided onsite with support personnel to be housed at the CH2M Hill Camp in the Beluga area.
The Congahbuna Lake prospect is some 10 miles west-northwest of Tyonek and has two potential drilling locations each with a single well at 22/27-T12N-R12W, SM, and 28-T12N-R12W, SM.
Site access will be by the road system, including old oilfield roads, in the Tyonek/Beluga area. The drilling location is on lands managed by DNR; subsurface rights are Mental Trust Health Lands. Limited lodging will be provided onsite with support personnel to be housed at the Shirleyville Camp.
Nicolai Footwall The Nicolai Footwall prospect has two potential drilling locations with a single well at each site some 10 miles southwest of Tyonek, 29-11N-12W, SM, and 20-T11N-R12W, SM. The Nicolai Footwall No. 1 well has surface management from DNR and subsurface management by Mental Health Trust Lands. The No. 2 well has Mental Health Trust surface management and federal Bureau of Land Management subsurface management.
Site access will be by the road system in the Tyonek/Beluga area and by existing oilfield roads, with some 1/2 mile of new access road required to get to the actual drilling locations.
There will be limited onsite lodging for supervisory personnel with support personnel housed at the Shirleyville Camp.
Forest Lake, West Eagle On the Kenai Peninsula, Forest Lake has two potential drilling locations with a single well proposed for each, some 12 miles northeast of Kenai. Forest Lake Well No. 1 is at 22-T7N-R9W, SM, and No. 2 is at 15-T7N-R9W, SM. Site access will be on the Kenai/Soldotna area road system with existing oilfield roads used to get near the proposed sites and some 2 miles of new access road required. The drilling location and access road are on land managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Surface; CIRI holds subsurface rights.
Only limited housing will be provided onsite, with support personnel housed in the Kenai/Soldotna area.
The West Eagle well location is some 20 miles east of Homer, within the footprint of an existing material site on public lands operated by a local company.
Aurora said the West Eagle No. 1 may encounter either oil and/or natural gas. The site is reached by some 21 miles of existing roads.
DNR has subsurface ownership; surface ownership of the existing pad is held by the Kenai Peninsula Borough.
Personnel will be housed offsite in existing commercial lodging.
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