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2023 drilling down
North Slope saw 46 development wells; no Cook Inlet exploration drilling
Alan Bailey for Petroleum News
According to drilling data published by the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, 46 development wells were completed on the North Slope in 2023. That compares with 71 completions in 2022 and 91 in 2019. There were few North Slope wells drilled in 2020 and 2021 because of COVID related restrictions. Six exploration wells were completed on the North Slope in 2023.
(See graph in the online issue PDF)
Of particular note in the Cook Inlet basin was the absence of any exploration wells completed in 2023. The Cook Inlet did see the completion of 10 development wells. That compares with 19 in 2022, nine in 2021, 10 in 2020 and 14 in 2019.
North Slope development wells On the North Slope Hilcorp Alaska drilled 33 development wells in 2023. Of these wells, 21 were in the Prudhoe Bay unit, with 11 drilled into the Prudhoe oil pool, six into the Schrader Bluff Orion pool, one into another Schrader Bluff pool, two into the Borealis oil pool and one into the Aurora oil pool. The company had indicated an intent to increase its drilling activity that addresses production from the Prudhoe oil pool. The Schrader Bluff, Borealis and Aurora pools are in what is referred to as the Western Satellites, a region within the Prudhoe Bay unit that Hilcorp has been focusing on for expanded development.
Hilcorp also drilled seven development wells into the Milne Point field Schrader Bluff oil pool. And at Milne Point the company drilled five wells into the Kuparuk River oil pool. The company has been using polymer to enhance production of the relatively viscous Schrader Bluff oil in both the Milne Point and Prudhoe Bay units.
ConocoPhillips drilled nine North Slope development wells. Four of these wells were in the Colville River unit, two drilled into the Qannik oil pool, and one each into the Narwhal and Alpine pools. The company drilled three wells in the Greater Mooses Tooth unit, all of them into the Rendezvous oil pool. And the company also drilled two development wells in the Kuparuk River unit, one into the West Sak oil pool and one into the Kuparuk River pool.
Eni US Operating Co. drilled two development wells in the Nikaitchuq unit, both into the Schrader Bluff oil pool as part of the company- s ongoing plan of development for the unit. And Oil Search (Alaska) Inc. drilled two wells into the Nanushuk oil pool as part of its development of the Pikka oil field.
North Slope injection wells In 2023 30 injection wells were drilled on the North Slope. The majority of these were drilled for injecting fluids for enhanced oil recovery. One well was a water supply well, one was a waste disposal well and two wells were plugged and abandoned. Hilcorp completed seven enhanced oil recovery injection wells in the Milne Point unit and eight in the Prudhoe Bay unit. The majority of these wells in both fields targeted the Schrader Bluff oil pool.
ConocoPhillips completed two enhanced oil recovery injection wells in the Colville River unit, four in the Greater Mooses Tooth unit and three in the Kuparuk River unit. Oil Search completed two enhanced oil recovery injection wells as part of its Pikka development.
North Slope exploration drilling In terms of exploration, ConocoPhillips completed the Bear 1 exploration well, near the Colville River, south of the village of the Nuiqsut, in a similar geologic setting to Oil Search- s Pikka oilfield to the north. The company has recently reported that Bear 1 proved to be a dry hole. ConocoPhillips also completed three exploration wells targeting the Coyote oil pool in the Kuparuk River unit - Coyote is a discovery in the Nanushuk formation that hosts the reservoir for the Pikka field.
Accumulate Energy Alaska, a subsidiary of 88 Energy, completed its Hickory 1 exploration well in the central North Slope near the Haul Road, to test multiple reservoirs. The company has since reported successful oil flow testing from the Upper SFS reservoir penetrated by the well.
In 2023 ASRC Consulting and Environmental Services completed an exploration well in the Prudhoe Bay unit. This well was drilled as part of an international research project into methane hydrate production.
Cook Inlet drilling Hilcorp drilled all 10 of the development wells completed in the Cook Inlet basin in 2023. The wells targeted gas in operating gas and oil fields, presumably reflecting Hilcorp- s focus on extending the life of the fields and maintaining adequate gas production. Three of the wells were in the Beluga River gas field on the west side of the Cook Inlet, three were in the Ninilchik gas field on the west coast of the Kenai Peninsula, three were in the Swanson River oil field in the northern Kenai Peninsula, and one was in the Lewis River gas field, inland, on the northwest side of the inlet.
No injection wells were drilled in the Cook Inlet basin in 2023.
The complete absence of Cook Inlet exploration drilling in 2023 seems to underline current concerns about the adequacy of future natural gas supplies in the region. Hilcorp has been conducting exploration in the basin but clearly needs to continue to develop its existing fields, to ensure that it can maintain gas supplies from known gas resources to meet its gas supply contractual obligations. The company has drilled a number of exploratory and stratigraphic test wells in recent years.
Other operators in the inlet appear challenged by the economics of exploration in the region. And significant offshore exploration in the Cook Inlet itself will probably require an additional jack-up drilling rig in the inlet. The Spartan 1 jack-up rig that is currently in the inlet is primarily used by Hilcorp to drill development wells.
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