Conoco planning Moraine data well

ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. is permitting a second well at the Kuparuk River unit to appraise the potential of the Moraine formation in the vicinity of its Palm satellite.

The company intends to drill the Moraine No. 1 well this winter from an ice pad in the northwest corner of the unit “to acquire core, logs and fluid samples,” which will be used “to delineate the Moraine reservoir” in the region, according to a Dec. 10 permitting application ConocoPhillips filed with the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.

The company would plug and abandon the well once the work is completed.

Earlier this year, ConocoPhillips permitted the 3S-620 Moraine well at Drill Site 3S, which is associated with the Palm satellite of the unit. The goal of the horizontal well is to gain “additional reservoir information in this area and narrow uncertainty around reservoir description parameters including oil-water contact, sand quality and thickness, and oil viscosity,” according to filings with the state Division of Oil and Gas. “This information is critical for any future development of this part of the Kuparuk reservoir.”

The company intends to spud both wells in early 2015.

Given that ConocoPhillips wants to drill both wells within the same governmental section - the smallest measurement in a large surveying grid used to divide the North Slope - the company is required to get explicit AOGCC permission, a fairly common request.

The AOGCC is currently considering the request.

- Eric Lidji