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NSB worried about Repsol program Government says small spills in 2012 and 2013 should raise the bar for exploration activities in the Colville River delta Eric Lidji For Petroleum News
The North Slope Borough is concerned about a three-well North Slope exploration program Repsol E&P USA Inc. plans to conduct this winter near the Colville River delta.
The borough questioned whether Repsol should be exempt from a provision requiring industrial facilities to be a certain distance from waterways. The borough raised the issue in light of two spills that occurred during exploration work in prior years of the program.
In comments with the Alaska Division of Oil and Gas, the borough also challenged other aspects of the program, particularly the access it provides for subsistence activities.
The local subsidiary of the Spanish supermajor is permitting five well locations for its program and plans to select three locations once it finishes processing geologic data.
The state recently approved the exploration program. The state considers exploration programs at a high level before companies seek specific permits for drilling activities.
In addition to detailing work plans, oil companies use exploration plans to explain how they will to comply with “mitigation measures” meant to limit environmental impacts or to request exemptions to certain provisions, if they cannot be reasonably accommodated.
Protection buffers an issue Repsol asked the state for an exemption from a mitigation measure requiring facilities to be at least 500 feet from fish-bearing waterways and at least 1,500 feet from current drinking water sources “to the extent practicable.” The company wants to place temporary drilling pads near some fish-bearing streams and near the Colville River.
“It seems unreasonable to grant a waiver from waterbody protection buffers and allow drilling as close as 37 feet from a small lake and 180 feet from the Colville River given the acknowledged risks associated with drilling into gas-laden formations in the area and the areal extent of the recent spills,” the borough wrote in an Oct. 6 letter to the state.
Repsol said it chose the proposed well locations with an eye toward drilling vertical wells. Vertical wells are significantly quicker and easier to drill than directional wells. Locating wells directly above a specific geologic target can be challenging in the Colville River delta, which is a crosshatch of streams, tributaries and lakes. Additionally, the company claimed that its proposed well locations were no closer to water bodies than its previous well in the region, none of which negatively impacted waterbodies in the region.
The borough believes Repsol should be required to explicitly compare the cost and speed of vertical and directional wells to determine whether an exemption should be justified.
The state ultimately approved the exemption because exploration wells involve temporary facilities. Should Repsol decide to develop the region, it would be able to use a large directional rig operated from a permanent gravel pad set farther from the river.
In early 2012, crews working for Repsol hit a shallow pocket of natural gas while drilling the Qugruk No. 2 exploration well in the Colville River delta. A subsequent blow out vented gas and sprayed some 1,000 barrels of water-based drilling mud onto the snow surrounding the rig. No oil was spilled, nor were there any injuries or major damage.
In early 2013, a hose burst during a flow test on the Qugruk No. 6 exploration well, which was a new well drilled near the original Qugruk No. 2 well. Some 90 barrels of hydraulic fracturing fluids, diesel and crude oil sprayed onto a containment area around the drilling rig and misted onto a 0.63-acre section of nearby snow-covered tundra.
Other concerns The borough also cited several other concerns with the program, particularly with the access it provides for subsistence activities, which is required under existing regulations.
For example, Repsol ice roads are currently open to residents of Nuiqsut. The borough wants the roads to be open to all North Slope Borough residents. Repsol believes it is only authorized to open the roads to Nuiqsut residents and Kuukpik Corp. shareholders.
The state Division of Mining, Land and Water, which regulates certain land use on the North Slope, wrote, “We believe that both parties have legitimate concerns. Local residents should be allowed reasonable access to subsistence harvest lands. Industry should be allowed to establish minimum safety buffers around certain infrastructure. We support industry working with local municipalities to develop measures that both provide for the safety of workers and the public, as well as allowing for subsistence access.”
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