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Hilcorp gets Milne, Duck Island work OKs
Work includes expansion of Milne H Pad, installation of water line inside abandoned line; easement approved for Duck Island wells Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
Hilcorp Alaska has received approvals from the Alaska Department of Natural Resources' Division of Oil and Gas for its expansion plans at H Pad in the Milne Point unit and for installation of a 6-inch line inside an existing abandoned 14-inch line at Milne Point and for plans to drill wells at the Duck Island unit which cross under a lease which is part of the Prudhoe Bay unit.
(See map in the online issue PDF)
At Milne Point, Hilcorp is expanding H Pad to allow it to drill an additional 25 wells, requiring a 4.7-acre expansion and placement of some 60,500 cubic yards of gravel on the north, west and south sides of the pad.
In a Jan. 26 approval of a unit plan of operations amendment, the division said gravel placement was scheduled to begin Feb. 1 and be complete by September, followed by drilling of the first round of wells beginning in September.
The gravel placement will be on 2.15 acres on the southern edge of the pad, 0.6 acres of gravel on the western edge of the pad and 1.8 acres of gravel on the southern edge of the pad.
Drilling of the first 12 wells is scheduled to begin this year, followed by an additional 13 wells in 2025.
Facility components to be installed include 750 feet of four header lines: an 8-inch power fluid line; a 10-inch production line; two 3-inch polymer lines; a power fluid separator module; a low-pressure booster module; a high-pressure booster module; a jet wash tank; two polymer injection units/skids; and two polymer silos.
The division said H Pad is some 7.5 miles northeast of the Kuparuk airport.
In December, the most recent month for which data is available, the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission showed three wells producing from H Pad, which began producing in 1991; production began from Milne Point in 1985.
6-inch produced water line In a Jan 29 decision, the division approved a unit plan of operations amendment request from Hilcorp Alaska for installation of a 6-inch FlexSteel line inside an abandoned 14-inch line from SK Junction to K Pad at Milne.
The division said the FlexSteel line will be pulled through the 3.5-mile pipeline allowing high-pressure produced water to be brought to K Pad for injection and production support.
The project is scheduled to begin in February and be completed by April.
Ice road spurs will be installed from K Pad road and an ice road installed on the north side of the pipeline. A hot tap will be required to the 8-inch S Pad waterline next to the SK Junction for installation of the 6-inch line.
Duck Island wells A Jan. 25 director's decision approved a Sept. 6, 2023, request from Hilcorp Alaska for an easement to allow drilling of up to two wellbores at the Duck Island unit which will pass through some 600 feet of non-Hilcorp Alaska unitized land in the eastern Prudhoe Bay unit, ADL 34634, to bottomholes in the DIU. A map accompanying the decision shows the PBU lease adjacent to DIU on the south and west.
The division said the easement was required because ADL 34634 is outside the DIU and Hilcorp Alaska is not the lessee.
Access to the area will be through existing DIU infrastructure, with drilling from the MPI Pad at DIU.
The term of the easement is 35 years.
The division approved plans for the two grassroot development wells at the Endicott Main Production Island on Dec. 14.
Duck Island is produced from the MPI and the Satellite Development Island, with recent AOGCC production data showing production split about evenly between the two. The MPI produces the northern portion of the field and the SDI the southern portion.
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