20 years ago: ConocoPhillips' NPR-A wells

Kristen Nelson

Petroleum News

Editor's note: This story first appeared in the Nov. 21, 2004, issue of Petroleum News.

ConocoPhillips Alaska has filed applications with regulators for its winter exploration program in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, with several new wells proposed, in addition to wells the company has already permitted.

The company has not yet said what its drilling program will be for the winter of 2004-05, and the applications filed are for wells that may be drilled during winter drilling seasons between December 2004 and June 2009.

ConocoPhillips has also not said how many rigs it will use; both Doyon 19 and Doyon 141 are included in the company's applications.

Proposed wells include Defiance 1, which is the farthest west of this group of wells, in section 15, township 12 north, range 7 west, Umiat Meridian; Bounty 1 in 17-T11N-R6W, UM; Kokoda 3 in 33-T11N-R5W, UM; Kokoda 4 in 5-T11N-R5W, UM; Kokoda 5 also in 5-T11N-R5W; and Noatak 1 in 22-T12N-R5W, UM. Kokoda 1 and Kokoda 2, previously permitted, are also in township 11 north, range 5 west.

All these well locations are west of ConocoPhillips' Trailblazer wells, drilled by BP in 2001 -- at the time, the farthest west of the current NPR-A wells -- and later picked up by ConocoPhillips and partner Anadarko. Trailblazer A-01 was plugged and abandoned after reaching 8,963 feet in 14-T12N-R3W, UM; Trailblazer H-01, which was suspended, was drilled to 7,850 feet in 6-T12N-R3W, SM.

The wells in ConocoPhillips' current plan are south of Teshekpuk Lake, but well east of Puviaq, which became the farthest west any wells the companies have drilled recently, when ConocoPhillips brought a rig in from Barrow to drill a well in the winter of 2003 in 35-T16N-R10W. No information is available on Puviaq, which is in operational suspension.

Access will be by ice road, and ConocoPhillips said it may use a southern route beginning at Kuparuk drill pad 2P and crossing the Colville River at Ocean Point. The company said its current plans are to mobilize drilling rigs across an ice road, but in the future a drilling rig may be mobilized to sites by Rolligon/ATV to expedite operations. ConocoPhillips said, however, that no well would be spudded until ice road access has been established to the drill site.

An estimated schedule, based on early-December 2004 tundra access, and ice road and pad construction beginning shortly after mid-December, calls for completing the Colville River ice bridge Jan. 24, spudding an initial well Feb. 11 and a second well March 3, with drilling ending April 24.