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AOGCC hears proposed Coyote pool rules
ConocoPhillips, Kuparuk River unit operator, developing Coyote, a Nanushuk accumulation, from 3S pad in southwest corner of unit
Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
ConocoPhillips Alaska, operator of the Kuparuk River unit, has applied to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission for pool rules and an area injection order for Coyote, a Nanushuk accumulation in the southwest corner of the unit.
(See map in the online issue PDF)
Oil Search Alaska's Quokka unit is adjacent to Kuparuk to the southwest, and ConocoPhillips told the commission in an Aug. 20 hearing on the proposal that in addition to numerous historical penetrations of Coyote in wells targeting deeper intervals, recent focused data collection began with Oil Search's Mitquq wells in 2020, followed by a ConocoPhillips sidetrack with a vertical production test in 2022, a ConocoPhillips horizontal producer/injector pair with a dedicated pilot hole for data collection in 2023 and a ConocoPhillips horizontal producer in 2024.
ConocoPhillips is proposing to define the Coyote oil pool based on the Palm 1, an exploration well drilled in 2001 by Phillips Alaska, which found the top of the Coyote interval at 4,270 feet measured depth and the base at 5,115 feet MD.
ConocoPhillips told the commission there was an average of 40 feet of net pay in the most prospective area, with an average porosity of 23% to 24%. This is primarily a stratigraphic trap, the company said.
Development plans The conceptual development plan calls for 40 wells, half producers and half injectors, with 1,300 feet inter-well spacing, with the final well count depending on an understanding of reservoir performance and facility impacts from the initial phased drilling program. Drilling will begin from the existing 3S pad, with a second pad, 3T, proposed to the northwest of 3S.
Some of the wells from the proposed 3T pad could be 25,000 feet long and ConocoPhillips said a different rig would not allow longer wells because the limit was not really the rig but the shallow depth of the formation.
As for drilling beyond what is discussed, with a program expected to begin in late 2024 and go into 2025, ConocoPhillips said additional drilling would be to the north from the proposed 3T pad and told the commission it had not to this point held discussions with offset operators. (See page 1 story in this issue on public comment submitted by Oil Search Alaska parent company Santos on the pool rules proposal.)
In place volume ConocoPhillips said the Coyote oil pool has original oil in place for the proposed development area of 508 million to 646 million barrels, with an estimate of 636 million to 810 million barrels for the total pool area.
Primary recovery is expected to be less than 5% of the original oil in place, with primary plus waterflood recovery estimated to recover 20-30%. ConocoPhillips said adding water alternating gas is being evaluated, with the amount that could add to recovery under evaluation.
Plan of development In its 2024 plan of development for Kuparuk, filed with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources' Division of Oil and Gas in May, and covering Aug. 1 through July 31, 2025, ConocoPhillips said it plans to pursue development at Coyote -- along with Torok and West Sak -- with six wells planned at Coyote and a new drill site 3T, planned to accommodate both Torok and Coyote production.
The company said capacity will be increased at drill site 3S to accommodate Coyote production, including upgrading the water injection line, the produced oil line and the production heaters.
In discussing work completed under the 2023 POD, ConocoPhillips said one Coyote well was completed and a second would be drilled by July 31.
ConocoPhillips has also filed to expand the Kuparuk River unit and form the Coyote participating area.
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