|
Furie advances permitting for Kitchen Lights, NMFS prepares EA
Kay Cashman Petroleum News
The June 14 Federal Register contained notice of the National Marine Fisheries Service's intent to issue proposed incidental harassment authorizations to Furie Operating Alaska.
On July 19, 2023, NMFS received a request from Furie for two consecutive incidental harassment authorizations, IHAs, to take marine mammals incidental to oil and gas activities in Cook Inlet. The application was deemed adequate and complete on April 5, 2024. Furie's request is for take of 12 species of marine mammals by Level B harassment and, for harbor seals, Level A harassment.
Neither Furie nor NMFS expect serious injury or mortality to result from this activity and, therefore, an IHA is appropriate NMFS said.
From April 1, 2024, through March 31, 2025 (Year 1), and from April 1, 2025, through March 31, 2026 (Year 2), Furie is planning to conduct the following oil and gas activities in Middle Cook Inlet:
In Year 1, Furie proposes to relocate the Enterprise 151 jack-up rig to its Julius R Platform, JRP, install up to two conductor piles using an impact hammer, and conduct production drilling of up to two natural gas wells at the JRP with the Enterprise 151 rig across 45-180 days. During Year 2, Furie proposes to relocate the jack-up rig to the JRP site again to potentially install one to two conductor piles using an impact hammer (depending on whether either or both of these piles are installed during Year 1) and conduct additional production drilling at the JRP.
Furie proposes to conduct the rig towing and pile driving activities between April 1 and Nov. 15 each year, but if favorable ice conditions occur outside of that period, it may tow the rig or pile drive outside of that period.
Furie will conduct impact installation of conductor piles during daylight hours only, and it will only conduct rig towing at night if necessary to accommodate a favorable tide.
Production drilling may be conducted 24 hours per day.
Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act, NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue two consecutive IHAs to incidentally take marine mammals. NMFS is also requesting comments on a possible one-time, 1-year renewal that could be issued for either or both of the two IHAs under certain circumstances and if all requirements are met. NMFS said it will consider public comments prior to making any final decision on the issuance of the requested Marine Mammal Protection Act authorizations. Comments and information must be received no later than July 15.
10th plan of development The 10th plan of development for the Cook Inlet basin Kitchen Lights unit submitted by operator Furie, a HEX company, was approved with modifications on Dec. 28 by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources' Division of Oil and Gas.
The 10th POD is for the period of Jan. 4, 2024, through Jan. 3, 2025.
The modifications call for Furie to drill a grassroots or sidetrack well targeting additional natural gas resources during the 10th POD period.
Furie must also provide the division with a fully defined plan for the KLU as part of its 2025 POD submission. This plan must include maps with well locations demonstrating to the division that Furie is planning for the full delineation of gas resources in the KLU, timeline(s) with specific dates and key project milestones for full KLU development.
On June 11, HEX owner John Hendrix told Petroleum News that to move forward with major capital spending and drilling "we have to fix the royalty burden," which is 25%, as compared with 13%, the average amount paid by other Cook Inlet natural gas producers.
First and foremost, Hendrix's goal at Kitchen Lights is to make it economic to drill new gas wells.
Royalties are paid from gross oil and gas production income. Those receiving royalties do not pay any portion of the cost of drilling or operating a lease. Royalties must be paid even if the operator is losing money.
All royalties are controlled by, and have to be approved by, the state, so fixing them has to be done by Alaska's Department of Natural Resources.
"We'll continue to produce Kitchen Lights as I bought it. But if you want more gas the state has to fix the royalties to aid in making it economic, competitive and sustainable to help provide gas to Alaskans for decades," Hendrix said.
"We spent $10 million trying to fix wells last year, just to keep production near flat," he said.
Incidental take NMFS can allow the incidental, but not intentional, taking of a small number of marine mammals by U.S. citizens who engage in a specified activity (other than commercial fishing) within a specified geographical region if the taking is limited to harassment and a notice of a proposed IHA is provided to the public for review.
Authorization for incidental takings will be granted if NMFS finds that the taking will have a negligible impact on the species or stock(s) and will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of the species or stock(s) for taking for subsistence uses (where relevant).
Specific geographic region For the purposes of Furie's project, lower Cook Inlet refers to waters south of the East and West Forelands; middle Cook Inlet refers to waters north of the East and West Forelands and south of Threemile River on the west and Point Possession on the east; and upper Cook Inlet refers to waters north and east of Beluga River on the west and Point Possession on the east.
Furie's JRP is in middle Cook Inlet, approximately 8 miles due south of Tyonek, and approximately 10 miles offshore from the shoreline to the southeast of the JRP.
The southernmost area of operation during Furie's Year 1 and Year 2 drilling projects is the Rig Tenders Dock, located in Nikiski, where the Enterprise 151 jack-up, under contract to Hilcorp, overwinters. The Rig Tenders Dock is in lower Cook Inlet, approximately 2.3 miles south of the East Foreland.
The northernmost location at which Furie may assume operatorship of the Enterprise 151 jack-up is Hilcorp's Bruce platform, located 6.4 miles northwest of the JRP.
Hilcorp has stated that they do not intend to conduct work at the Tyonek platform in 2024 or 2025, and therefore, Furie does not intend to operate or tow the Enterprise 151 north of the Bruce platform.
Tug towing, positioning A jack-up rig is not self-propelled and requires ships (tugs or heavy-lift vessels) to transport it to an offshore drilling location. The Enterprise 151 has a buoyant triangular hull, allowing it to be towed like a barge. The rig will be towed to the JRP by up to three ocean-going tugboats.
Upon arrival at the JRP, a fourth tugboat may join the other three for up to one hour to complete the precise positioning of the rig next to the JRP.
The tugboats are expected to be rated between 4,000 horsepower and 8,000 hp.
Several factors will determine the duration that the tugboats are towing the Enterprise 151, including the origin and destination of the towing route (e.g., Rig Tenders Dock, the JRP, one of Hilcorp's platforms) and the tidal conditions.
For safety reasons, a high slack tide is required to access the shallow water near the Rig Tenders Dock, whether beginning a tow or returning the Enterprise 151.
In all other locations, a slack tide at either high or low tide is required to attach the tugs to the rig and float it off position or to position the rig and detach from it.
The tugs will generally attempt to transport the rig by traveling with the tide, except when circumstances threaten human safety, property, or infrastructure. The rig may need to be towed against the tide to a safe harbor if a slack tide window is missed or extreme weather events occur.
Conductor pipe installation Active wells occupy four of the six well slots within the caisson (monopod leg) of the JRP.
During Year 1, Furie intends to drill up to two natural gas wells, either grassroots or sidetrack wells.
A grassroots well requires drilling a new wellbore from the surface to the gas-bearing formations and requires all new components from the surface to the bottom depth, including a conductor pipe, surface and subsurface casing, cement, production liner, tubulars, chokes, sleeves and a wellhead.
A sidetrack well is a new branch drilled from within an existing well. A sidetrack well requires fewer new components because many existing components, such as the conductor pipe, surface casing, and wellhead, are re-used.
The conductor pipe is the uppermost portion of a gas well and supports the initial sedimentary part of the well, preventing the surface layers from collapsing and obstructing the wellbore.
The pipe also facilitates the return of cuttings from the drill head and supports the wellhead components.
Furie expects to install a 20-inch conductor pipe in each of the two empty well slots in Year 1 but expects to complete only one grassroots well and one sidetrack well in Year 1.
Furie would install the conductor pipe with Delmag D62 impact hammer. As the pipe is driven into the sediment, the sections are connected either by welding or drivable quick connections.
Once installed, the conductor pipes remain a permanent component of natural gas wells. Installation of each conductor pile is anticipated to take approximately two days, with 70% of the installation occurring on day 1, and the remaining 30% occurring on day 2.
Furie will conduct the pile driving during daylight hours only.
To ensure stability After the Enterprise 151 jack-up is positioned next to the JRP, the rig will jack up so that the hull is initially approximately 5 to 10 feet out of the water.
To set the spud cans on the bottoms of the legs securely into the seafloor and ensure stability, the Enterprise 151 has specialized preload tanks within the hull that are filled with seawater and designed to add weight to the hull.
The preload is conducted while the hull is only slightly out of the water to maintain a lower center of gravity until full settling and stability are achieved.
After preloading, the seawater is discharged, and the hull is raised so that the drilling derrick can be cantilevered over the top deck of the JRP and positioned over a well slot.
Drilling operations Furie proposes to conduct production drilling activities after the conductor pipe installation is complete and the Enterprise 151 jack-up is positioned at the JRP. Furie expects to drill up to two wells each year, which could be any combination of new grassroots wells or sidetrack wells, to maintain or increase natural gas production levels to meet critical local energy needs.
Offshore support vessels Offshore support vessels support all operating offshore platforms in Cook Inlet throughout the open water season and will be used during Furie's planned drilling operations to transport equipment and supplies between the OSK Dock and the Enterprise 151.
During production drilling, an average of two daily vessel trips are expected between the OSK Dock and the jack-up.
No take of marine mammals is anticipated from the operation of the support vessels because they will be in transit, exposure to vessel noise will be temporary, relatively brief and will occur in a predictable manner, and also the sounds are of relatively lower levels.
Elevated background noise from multiple vessels and other sources can interfere with the detection or interpretation of acoustic cues, but the brief exposures to support vessels would be unlikely to disrupt behavioral patterns in a manner that would qualify as take, NMFS said.
Helicopters transport workers Helicopters will transport personnel and supplies from shore to the rig and platform during production drilling activities.
Helicopters must maintain an altitude of 1,500 feet and therefore, take from helicopter activity is not anticipated.
--KAY CASHMAN
| 