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Amaroq sits production bump from workovers
A five-well workover program at Nicolai Creek yields increases at three wells, leaves two shut-in; one new well under evaluation
Eric Lidji for Petroleum News
A recent series of workover operations at several Nicolai Creek unit wells yielded mixed results - increasing production at some wells and necessitating shut-ins at others, according to a plan of development submitted by operator Amaroq Resources LLC.
The company has not drilled at the Nicolai Creek unit during the current development year and has no plans to do so in the remaining months of the cycle, which runs through the end of December. But the company has conducted workover operations on at least five existing wells at the onshore Cook Inlet, mostly to check for and clean out sand fill.
The company ran slickline at Nicolai Creek No. 2 in August to evaluate the potential for future production or storage. The company identified mechanical issues, and the well is currently shut-in until the company can gather additional information.
The Nicolai Creek No. 3 well remains shut-in until the company can obtain 1.25-inch coiled tubing, which is unavailable in the Cook Inlet region at the present time.
A slickline operation on the Nicolai Creek No. 9 well in the third quarter of 2018 addressed fill identified in an August 2016 operation. The recent operation resulted in an approximately 50 percent increase in production. The well produced 38.4 million cubic feet through the first eight months of 2018, according to production figures in the plan.
Amaroq is currently evaluating the economics of conducting a rig workover of the Nicolai Creek No. 10 well sometime in 2019 to replace damaged tubing and to implement sand control. The company attempted to workover the well in the third quarter of this year but discovered parted tubing in the well, which requires rig work. Prior to the attempted clean out, Nicolai Creek No. 10 had been producing from the Carya 2-1 sand. The previous operator had comingled the Carya 2-1 sand with the Carya 2-3 sand in May 2015, but fill discovered in December 2015 and August 2016 closed the Carya 2-3 sand.
The Nicolai Creek No. 10 well produced 25.6 million cubic feet through the first eight months of 2018, according to figures provided by Amaroq in the development plan.
A coiled tubing workover of the Nicolai Creek No. 11 well in the third quarter of this year increased production by approximately 85 percent, according to Amaroq. A previous slickline check from December 2015 had discovered sand blocking the completion in the Lower Tyonek formation and attempts to clean out the sand failed. As a result, the well had been producing only from the Beluga formation. The well produced 27.7 million cubic feet through the first eight months of the year, according to figures in the plan.
The company reported no activity on the Nicolai Creek No. 1B well, which produced 10.2 million cubic feet through the first eight months of the year, according to the plan.
Development Amaroq appears to be developing a similar work plan for the coming year.
The biggest projects on the agenda are the rig workover of the Nicolai Creek No. 10 well and any other economically and logistically feasible workover projects at other wells.
In its 45th plan of development for the Nicolai Creek unit, the local company formerly known as Aurora Exploration LLC also acknowledged the potential of the proposed Nicolai Creek No. 12 well. Former operator and unassociated company Aurora Gas LLC proposed the well in its 44th plan of development, submitted to state officials last year.
“Additional evaluation of geologic and seismic data will be necessary to determine the economics of this well,” Amaroq President G. Scott Pfoff wrote in the newest plan.
The proposed well would target deeper sands to the north of the unit, in an area beyond the reach of the existing Nicolai Creek No. 3 well. The 5,650-foot well would target the Beluga and Upper Tyonek sands found in the Nicolai Creek No. 3 and No. 10 wells.
In addition to development activities aimed toward increasing production, Amaroq is also considering an earlier plan to convert the Nicolai Creek No. 2 and Nicolai Creek No. 9 wells into a gas storage operation capable of holding between 2.5 billion and 3 billion cubic feet. The plan could potentially include a new horizontal well. “While there has been renewed interest in this project, studies have not yet commenced. Commencement of feasibility studies, leasing, permitting, and implementation are all possible during this 45th Plan period but are not planned at this time,” Pfoff wrote in the development plan.
Without additional investment, either through development drilling or gas storage, the Nicolai Creek unit will likely become uneconomic in 2022, according to Amaroq.
Exploration Amaroq also said it remains interested in a plan to explore for deeper oil and natural gas deposits beneath the Nicolai Creek unit but is not planning to pursue the project in 2019.
Aurora Gas had sold those rights to Apache Alaska Corp, which acquired 3-D seismic over the acreage in early 2012. Apache withdrew from Alaska exploration activities without advancing the project. “Nonetheless, Amaroq Resources is interested in acquiring and/or accessing this new seismic with plans to interpret and evaluate; and along with other geologic data, determine possible exploration, development, and extension drilling targets at all depths,” Pfoff wrote, while noting that the work was unlikely in 2019.
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