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AOGCC permits Badami B1-33, Cottonfield 6 exception request
Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has permitted two exploration wells, Badami B1-33 and Cottonfield 6, both after public hearings.
Badami B1-33 was permitted first, on Jan. 26, following a Jan. 23 public hearing (see story in Jan. 28 issue of Petroleum News) called by the commission in which Cook Inlet Energy, a Glacier Oil and Gas company which operates Badami under a subsidiary, Savant Alaska, presented its view on how pressures it was likely to encounter in drilling the well should be calculated.
That has been an issue between CIE and AOGCC staff since a pre-submittal meeting for the drilling permit in early October. The company had been targeting a Feb. 1 spud date and told the commission at the Jan. 23 hearing that the rig, Doyon 19, was staging to travel on the ice road to meet the scheduled spud date.
CIE had proposed an alternate pressure gradient for calculating MASP, maximum anticipated surface pressure, to be encountered when drilling a well. Doyon 19 supports a MASP of 5,000 pounds per square inch, but to meet AOGCC requirements, the rig would have to support 10,000 psi. CIE said that requirement could not be met within the rig walls but would require additional equipment which would be outside the rig walls, creating a concern about ice plugs.
CIE personnel told the commission in the hearing that its permit application was consistent with a previously drilled Badami well and said that at earlier meetings with AOGCC staff it had presented data from five previous Badami penetrations.
The company also presented a statement from Petrophysical Resources Alaska supporting CIE's position.
AOGCC staff said a 2008 regulation change on the issue of pressure gradients had been supported by the Alaska Oil and Gas Association and said the commission did not accept CIE's justification for the alternate pressure gradient.
Permitting information is not public until 25 months following completion of drilling, so it is unknown how the commission ruled on the pressure gradient issue, only that, three days after the hearing, the permit was issued.
Cottonfield 6 There was also a hearing on Cottonfield 6, Hilcorp Alaska's Kenai Peninsula exploration well, but that was triggered by a requirement for an exception to the commission's spacing requirements. The commission received objections to the well primarily from neighboring property owners, who requested the hearing, which was held Jan. 18 (see story in Jan. 28 issue of Petroleum News).
The commission issued a ruling allowing the spacing exception on Jan. 29, permitting the well that same day.
In its ruling on Hilcorp's request for a spacing exception the commission reviewed the comments it had received, noting that: "As a general matter, AOGCC does not have extensive authority over surface impacts such as noise, emission, or construction."
It did, however, discuss issues raised in the comments, among them possible impacts on drinking water. AOGCC said there are 10 drinking water wells registered with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources within 1 mile of Cottonfield 6, all less than 150 feet deep. Surface casing on the Cottonfield 6, AOGCC said, will be set at about 1,000 feet "and cemented to surface using industry standard practices."
There was concern about the project causing bluff erosion and the commission said the bluff is about one-half mile west of the well's surface location.
There was also concern about H2S from the well, but Hilcorp said it did not expect to find H2S in the well, telling the commission H2S is not present in that area of the Kenai Peninsula.
There were concerns about the surface location of the well. Hilcorp told the commission location was based on typography and wetlands.
--KRISTEN NELSON
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