Division OKs small Tract 14 pad expansion

Petroleum News

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources' Division of Oil and Gas has approved a plan of operations amendment request from Hilcorp Alaska to expand the Tract 14 receiver pad in the Milne Point unit.

The division said in its Nov. 3 decision that no more than 50,000 cubic yards of gravel would be placed on the south side of the pad in a 10 foot by 200 foot rectangle, some 0.05 acres.

A map with the division decision shows the Tract 14 pad at a road intersection in the Milne Point unit northwest of the Central Processing Facility with the closest pads MPU E to the southeast, MPU A to the northwest and MPU G to the southwest.

The division said the expansion will "provide adequate space for larger drill rigs and associated equipment and emergency access, to transit around the Tract 14 pad," and noted that recently permitted projects involving infrastructure placement at Tract 14 "constrict large vehicle travel on the adjacent roadway, which necessitates this expansion."

Nov. 6 was the scheduled start of gravel placement, with compaction and turning, if needed, scheduled to occur March through August of next year, the division said.

In February the division approved installation of a new utility cable at Tract 14 to provide power to the heater at Tract 14.

--PETROLEUM NEWS