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Minke PA approved; sustained output expected start by February
Kay Cashman Petroleum News
On Dec. 23 Alaska's Division of Oil and Gas approved ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc.'s application for the Minke participating area within the CPAI-operated Colville River Unit, or CRU.
Currently, development of the MPA is planned to be from the existing Colville Delta 5, CD5, drill site. The first well, CD5-629, is set to be drilled in 2025, with sustained production anticipated to start by February 2025.
(See map in the online issue PDF)
The MPA acreage lies onshore in the west central section of the CRU.
Under a delegation of authority from the commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, division Director Derek Nottingham found that the formation of the 3,656.45-acre Minke participating area, or MPA, promotes conservation of all natural resources and the prevention of economic and physical waste, as well as provides for the protection of all parties of interest, including the state of Alaska.
CPAI submitted the MPA application on Sept. 13.
The state of Alaska, Arctic Slope Regional Corp. and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management jointly manage the CRU. The MPA contains jointly owned BLM and ASRC oil and gas leases. Approval by BLM and ASRC are also required before the MPA can be effective.
The CD5-32X exploration well was drilled from the CD5 pad in the first quarter of 2024 to test the Minke reservoir. The well was drilled vertically, reaching its total depth within the Minke formation.
The CD5-32X encountered approximately 440 feet of gross Minke formation, with the upper 100 feet of the formation being of particular interest due to its reservoir potential.
The CD5-32X was logged, cored and fracture stimulated. The well's flow test included a pressure build-up before the final flow test to evaluate hydrocarbon deliverability. The well achieved a peak rate of approximately 2,000 barrels of oil per day from the stimulated zone.
Additionally, the Minke formation has been penetrated in the intermediate hole section of several wells as part of exploration and development of deeper reservoir targets at CD5. Gross thickness in these penetrations ranges from 180 to over 500 feet. The Minke formation was not tested in any of these penetrations.
CD5-32X, to date, is the first and only well drilled in the CRU to test the Minke reservoir specifically.
Currently, there are no development wells targeting the Minke formation.
Reservoir characteristics The Minke reservoir sands are broadly age equivalent to the Cretaceous Nanushuk formation. CPAI proposed defining the reservoir in the Minke PA as the accumulation of oil that correlates with the accumulation found in the CD5-22 well from 5,222 feet to 6,433 feet measured depth (-4,333 feet to -5,193 feet subsea true vertical depth).
This vertical definition is the same as the public testimony to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission for Minke pool rules.
The Minke reservoir is a Brookian topset play. The upper confining interval is a flooding shale within the Nanushuk formation and the lower confining interval is a mud dominated heterolithic sequence in the Torok formation.
The Minke reservoir is found along a north-northeast striking shelf margin.
The Minke PA of the CRU proposed by CPAI is supported by the technical data submitted by the operator. Data submitted to the division include maps showing the proposed development wells, Minke type log, Minke net pay map, Top Minke structure map, and strike and dip cross sections through the proposed Minke PA.
CPAI also provided a technical review of their seismic interpretation of this area.
Review of the geological, geophysical, and engineering data has allowed the division to "reasonably establish the potential for successful sustained production of the Minke reservoir in the requested Minke PA acreage," the division said in its approval.
Development plans CPAI submitted a plan of development, or POD, for the MPA as part of their application and met with the division for a technical presentation on Nov. 5.
CPAI's development plans include drilling and completing up to three Minke wells, with two planned for the initial phase and one for a follow-up phase.
All wells will be drilled from the CD5 pad.
--KAY CASHMAN
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