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Division approves Colville River POD
ConocoPhillips drilled under 2024 plan, but no exploration or development wells are planned for the 2025 POD, May 16-May 15, 2026 Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
ConocoPhillips Alaska does not plan to drill at its Colville River unit in the next year, the company said in its amended 2025 POD, the 27th for the unit, covering May 16, 2025-May 15, 2026.
Division of Oil Director Derek Nottingham said in the division's April 17 approval of the POD that while no wells are planned, ConocoPhillips "will continue to evaluate and pursue additional operations as necessary to sustain and optimize production and injection, depending on available resources."
ConocoPhillips' initial 27th POD, submitted Feb. 14, listed up to three wells in the Narwhal participating area, with up to four workovers in the Alpine participating area, and said "additional opportunity wells may be drilled within the CRU depending on drilling results and rig schedule."
In a cover letter for the revised POD the company said that since the Feb. 14 POD was submitted, it "has revised its plans," but did include the same language on drilling: "additional opportunity wells may be drilled within the CRU depending on drilling results and rig schedule."
2024 POD During the 2024 POD ConocoPhillips completed Titan 1 drilling operations in the Fiord West Kuparuk participating area as well as completing drilling of the CD5-32X exploration well. The company also drilled and completed two wells in the new Minke participating area, which ConocoPhillips established effective Feb. 1 -- the CD5-629 producer and the CD5-697 injector.
The company also established the Minke participating area, effective Feb. 1.
There were 14 scale inhibition treatments in the Alpine Pool wells.
Reprocessing was completed for the 3D seismic survey "Narwhal Merge" to support development of the CD8 pad.
The company also completed upgrades to the CD4 instrument control and safety system, finalized engineering design work for CD2 and progressed engineering for the CD3 and CD4 fire and gas systems.
ConocoPhillips deferred the Nanuq Kuparuk participating wells to prioritize Minke participating area wells and deferred the Narwhal participating area well on capital reevaluation.
2025 POD ConocoPhillips lists four operations it plans at the Colville River unit during the 2025 POD period:
*Evaluating future development opportunities and well planning in existing participating areas;
*Continuing scale inhibition treatments;
*Progressing development concepts and studies in the fifth expansion area; and
*Progressing multi-year projects to upgrade and replace fire and gas systems and instrument control and safety systems throughout the field.
Unit history The division said the Colville River unit was formed in 1998 with 37 leases -- state, Arctic Slope Regional Corp. and joint state-ASRC lands. Since 1998 the unit has been expanded nine times and covers more than 134,000 acres of state, ASRC, joint and federal lands.
There are eight participating areas and eight distinct oil reservoirs, with the Alpine Central Facility processing Colville River production as well as production from the Greater Moose's Tooth unit in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
In its POD ConocoPhillips lists participating areas and their average production in 2024: Alpine, which accounts for the most oil, averaging 16,600 bpd, followed by Narwhal, which averaged 7,200 bpd, Fiord Nechelik at 4,000 bpd, Nanuq Kuparuk at 3,100 bpd, Fiord West Kuparuk at 1,500 bd, Qannik at 1,300 bpd, Nanuq Nanuq at 800 bpd and Fiord Kuparuk, which had no production in 2024.
Colville River production averaged 34,177 barrels per day in the 2023 calendar year, increasing to 34,769 bpd in calendar year 2024, a 2% year-over-year increase, the division said.
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