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NordAq Energy targets Tiger Eye onshore prospect Small Alaska independent to drill for gas and oil at site on west side of Cook Inlet; plans to build road this winter, spud in June ’12 Wesley Loy For Petroleum News
Anchorage-based independent NordAq Energy Inc. is planning to drill an exploratory well at its Tiger Eye prospect on the west side of Alaska’s Cook Inlet.
The company aims to spud the Tiger Eye North No. 1 well in June 2012, says a plan of operations submitted to the Alaska Division of Oil and Gas.
The paperwork, dated Oct. 19, indicates the drilling will seek both natural gas and oil.
The proposed Tiger Eye drill site is located about 2.5 miles inland from Cook Inlet, and about 1.8 miles southwest of the Chevron-operated Trading Bay production facility. NordAq plans to make use of a barge landing and airstrip Trading Bay to bring in people, equipment and supplies to support its drilling program.
Gas discovery disclosed State records show NordAq was created in February 2009.
NordAq’s president, Bob Warthen, is a geologist with extensive Cook Inlet oil industry experience, including 25 years as a manager with Unocal. NordAq chief technical officer Hugh North, of England, is said to have 30 years of international exploration experience.
NordAq in April announced it had completed a wildcat exploration well inside the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on the east side of Cook Inlet.
The 14,000-foot Shadura No. 1 well made “a significant natural gas discovery,” and NordAq is now applying for permits to develop the find, say documents posted on NordAq’s website. (See story on page 1 of this issue.)
Tiger Eye details NordAq, in its Oct. 19 submittal to the Division of Oil and Gas, asked for expedited clearance to build a single-lane, 2.5-mile gravel access road to the Tiger Eye prospect, with construction to begin in early November. The road would cross Salamatof Native Association land before entering state oil and gas lease ADL 391103, which encompasses the NordAq prospect.
The company also plans to build a temporary gravel exploration pad at Tiger Eye.
NordAq plans to barge in a modular drilling rig, but the specific rig is not identified.
The well would spud in June 2012.
“The Tiger Eye North #1 drilling targets are the Tyonek, and Hemlock formations ending at 12,000 feet total measured depth,” says NordAq’s plan of operations. “NordAq will test encountered hydrocarbon zones as warranted upon completion.”
The directional drilling will take 60 to 120 days, with well testing to take another 10 to 30 days, the plan says.
Afterward, the rig would be demobilized to the east side of Cook Inlet, where oil field contractors base their operations.
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