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Oil Search files second Pikka unit POD
Civil works program now underway; goal to enter FEED next year, positioning for project sanctioning in late 2021 or early 2022 Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
Oil Search, as operator at Pikka, has filed the second plan of development for the unit, including proposed operations for the 2021-22 period beginning Feb. 1, 2021, through Jan. 31, 2022.
A 2014 application for a unit at Pikka, on the North Slope between the Kuparuk River and Colville River units, was approved by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Oil and Gas in 2015. Earlier this year, the Pikka unit agreement term was extended to June 1, 2025.
Completed activities The company listed activities completed under the first, 2020 POD for the unit, and the POD for the upcoming year.
The 2020 POD described planned activities “focused on the first year of a planned two-year civil construction program to build roads, ridges and pads from currently existing infrastructure to drill sites” in the Pikka unit, Oil Search said.
Winter 2019-20 activities included ice road construction to support gravel laying and mine site work.
Gravel placement was done for the Nanushuk access road, the Nanushuk Operations pad, the Nanushuk Process Facility pad, the ND-B access road and pad, an access road and pad for water access to a lake and initial upgrades to the Mustang Road.
A bridge was installed across the Miluveach River and there was culvert installation.
Work over this past summer included: summer rework of gravel placed over the winter, place of slope protection geotextile, gravel bags and rip-rap material; and additional Mustang Road upgrades.
Oil Search said it “continues to advance facility engineering and design and contract negotiations for PKU development.” The Pikka B and C wells allowed further appraisal of the Nanushuk reservoir for FEED, front-end engineering and design, the company said, “and will inform the subsurface basis of design for planning of development wells and production infrastructure.”
Phased approach As previously reported in Petroleum News, in response to COVID-19 and the associated drop in oil prices the working interest owners are moving toward a phased approach “to reduce capital outlay and improve project resilience by lowering breakeven costs,” Oil Search said in the Pikka POD.
Phase 1 will be a single drill site, ND-B, and associated pipelines and production infrastructure.
Oil Search said “key forward development activities subject to satisfactory commercial terms and economic conditions include completion of pre-FEED activities and entry into FEED on the proposed Project in 2021,” positioning the project for sanction in late 2021 or early 2022.
Detail engineering and supply chain activities would begin after project sanction with development drilling scheduled to begin in 2022 from the ND-B development pad, “initially targeting the Nanushuk reservoir,” the company said.
Processing facilities and additional pipeline construction would occur in parallel, with field production targeted for 2025.
Development infrastructure Oil Search said development infrastructure, “including future phases,” includes: Nanushuk Processing Facility, including power generation for project facilities; Nanushuk Operation Pad, including the main camp; ND-B development pad, accommodating drilling equipment and support facilities for drilling and completion - and other future development drill sites; infield pipelines and cables from the processing facility and drill site; pipelines and cables, including import and export pipelines; other civil infrastructure; and the Seawater Treatment Plant which will be constructed at Oliktok Point to deliver water for enhanced recovery.
Oil Search said a participating area has not yet been established but an application for an initial Nanushuk PA will be submitted prior to beginning of regular production.
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