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Hilcorp planning Kalotsa pad The drilling pad in the southern end of the Ninilchik unit would target gas between the Susan Dionne and Paxton pads Eric Lidji For Petroleum News
Hilcorp Alaska LLC is planning another drilling pad at the Ninilchik unit.
The local subsidiary of the Houston-based independent has said it intends to file paperwork this year for the Kalotsa pad to support a two-well exploration program in the southern end of the Cook Inlet unit. The Kalotsa No. 1 and Kalotsa No. 2 wells would test the Tyonek and Beluga formations between the Susan Dionne and Paxton pads.
The company included the Kalotsa pad in an updated plan of development for the Ninilchik unit submitted to state officials in October 2014, some seven months after filing its initial version of the plan. The revision included two additional pads: the Blossom pad in the center of the unit and the Kalotsa pad in the south of the unit.
Toward the end of 2014, the state approved construction of the Blossom pad and a two-well gas exploration program, although drilling activities at Blossom have yet to begin.
The state has yet to issue a ruling on the Kalotsa pad.
Southern Ninilchik activity As it revives aging fields across Cook Inlet, Hilcorp has given considerable attention to the Ninilchik unit, which follows the coastline between Clam Gulch and Ninilchik.
The unit currently includes three participating areas in the tertiary Tyonek formation: Falls Creek, Grassim Oskolkoff and Susan Dionne-Paxton, all producing natural gas. The initial Falls Creek discovery dates to 1961 and the current development activity started in the early 2000s.
The Kalotsa pad would be the ninth at the unit and would build upon two years of exploration activities around the Susan Dionne-Paxton participating area in the southern end of the unit. Under its 2013 plan of development, Hilcorp drilled four exploration wells at Ninilchik, including two in the south - Susan Dionne No. 8 and Paxton No. 5.
The 12,000-foot Susan Dionne No. 8 well was the first explicit attempt at oil exploration at the unit in decades. Although Hilcorp ultimately deemed the well as non-commercial for oil, the company completed the well as a producer from both the Tyonek formation within the Susan Dionne participating area and from the Beluga formation on a tract basis. Paxton No. 5 was a shallow well from the Paxton pad to the south of the Susan Dionne pad. Hilcorp completed the well as a producer from the Beluga formation on a tract basis. Given the Beluga production from the two wells, Hilcorp told the state it plans to form the Susan Dionne/Paxton Beluga participating area sometime this year.
Initial plan for six wells The company initially proposed a six-well exploration program at Ninilchik for 2014, although toward the end of the year it expanded the program to include 11 wells.
The initial program called for two wells at the Paxton pad. The 10,000-foot Paxton No. 6 and Paxton No. 7 wells would target the Tyonek and Beluga formations, south of the Paxton pad. Paxton No. 6 would be an “appraisal” well and Paxton No. 7 would “follow up” on the results of Paxton No. 6. The expanded program added an 11,000-foot Paxton No. 8 to test the structural apex of an undefined Tyonek formation northeast of the pad.
The company permitted Paxton No. 7 and Paxton No. 8 in mid-2014 and permitted a Paxton No. 9 well in November 2014. The company completed Paxton No. 7 in November 2014, according to Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission records.
The expanded program also included plans for the Kalotsa pad and exploration wells.
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