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Forest drills to new depths Company doubles initial recovery estimates from Redoubt Shoal; now expects 100 million barrels of oil from the offshore Cook Inlet prospect Kristen Nelson PNA Editor-in-Chief
Forest Oil Corp. said April 5 that it has completed the Redoubt No. 4 delineation well at the Redoubt Shoal field in Cook Inlet. The well, drilled to 20,203 feet measured depth, is the deepest deviated well ever drilled in Cook Inlet, the company said. Forest is operator and 100 percent working interest owner at the Redoubt Shoal field.
Forest estimates the recoverable oil in Redoubt Shoal will be at least 100 million barrels (85 million barrels, net).
The company said that as a result of this well, in combination with successful drilling in other regions, Forest has replaced in the first quarter of 2002 more than its currently forecasted production for the entire year.
The well encountered the Hemlock formation at 18,872 feet and logged approximately 229 feet of net oil pay. Forest is currently completing the well.
The well, which was designed to determine the down dip limit of the field, extended the lowest known oil by approximately 50 feet without encountering the oil-water interface.
The well also encountered 589 feet of net natural gas pay in multiple shallow sands. This discovery will be further delineated during the oil development drilling program. Fifth well to spud Forest said it will spud the Redoubt No. 5 within the next month to define the western limit of the oil accumulation and to further delineate the extent of the natural gas field. Forest confirmed that the Redoubt Shoal field development is on schedule for first production by the end of 2002, subject to regulatory approval.
Gary Carlson, Forest Oil’s senior vice president for Alaska, told PNA April 10 that the company is still trying to get permits lined up and respond to questions from agencies. Forest hopes to have permits by the third week of April, Carlson said, and is “mobilizing equipment now to be ready for when we get our permits.”
Forest installed the Osprey platform at Redoubt Shoal in June 2000 and in February 2001 the company announced results of 1,010 barrels per day for the first Redoubt well. Results from the Redoubt No. 2, announced in June 2001, included a test flow of 1,170 bpd and the third well, results of which were announced last October, had reservoir quality similar to the No. 2 and was not production tested for oil. At that time, Forest was still estimating 50 million barrels recoverable at Redoubt, an estimate the company has now doubled.
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