Two June 30 plan of operation amendment approvals from Alaska’s Division of Oil and Gas are expected to result in a total of 16 new wells in the central North Slope’s Kuparuk River unit this year.
One of the approvals authorizes Kuparuk operator ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc., or CPAI, to drill 12 new wells on the Drill Site 3S, or DS-3S, pad, which is the farthest west drill site in the Kuparuk unit.
The other approval authorizes CPAI to drill four new wells on the DS-1C pad.
Both amendment applications were filed by the company on May 24.
The four new wells will be drilled on ADL 25649; the 12 wells will be drilled on ADL 380107.
The two projects are expected to begin upon issuance of permits.
DS-3S and Coyote prospect
Here are some of the things CPAI executives have said. or CPAI state filings have revealed, about Drill Site 3S and the Coyote and Nuna prospects.
In 2015-16 the company drilled the Torok reservoir at DS-3S, drilling a well pair and contacting more than 4,000 feet of reservoir in a single lateral.
Among CPAI’s “notable activities” completed within the Kuparuk participating area in 2021 was the completion of a well sidetrack into the “Brookian-age Coyote reservoir” from DS-3S.
In mid-2021, CPAI announced the Coyote discovery east of Nuna. At the time, company President Erec Isaacson said Coyote was in the Brookian topset above the Nuna Torok discovery, describing Coyote as shallow, i.e. possibly a Nanushuk play.
In late 2021 and 2022 CPAI officials said that the primary Greater Kuparuk Area field development projects include Coyote, Nuna and Northeast West Sak.
Regarding the status of Nuna, the company told PN on May 4: “We continue to progress the project planning and approvals for the development at 3T, a planned future drill site where we plan to locate the Nuna development. It will be sited on the existing gravel pad within the Nuna acreage we acquired from Caelus. We plan to drill some wells in the same reservoir in the 3S area in Q3 2022 that will provide key learnings to help us further optimize the 3T development plans.”
Also on May 4, a CPAI spokesperson told Petroleum News that well test results from its Coyote prospect were “very successful,” exceeding CPAI expectations and “providing key data to help us better understand the Coyote reservoir interval.”
The company had side-tracked an existing well at 3S drill site in the Greater Kuparuk Area to test the Coyote prospect, which had been identified from review of a 2015 3D seismic survey. CPAI got the well down at the end of 2021.
The company plans to drill a follow-up pair of wells (one producer, one injector) in the same area in Q4 2022 that “will enable us to gather other critical data to help us better plan for a future development of this reservoir from the 3S pad.”
Back to new drilling
For the two new drilling projects approved June 30, CPAI will utilize typical construction equipment, which includes a drill rig, excavator, pile driver, crane and skid-steer loader. All planned wells and associated activities will take place within the existing gravel pad footprint.
A condition the division put on both drilling projects is that a “certified As-Built survey of the activity shall be provided within one year of placement of the improvement. This As-Built must contain a hard copy, as well as digital GIS file containing a Shapefile or ESRI Feature Class.”
If drilling activities have not commenced, the approval for both expires on June 30, 2025.
- KAY CASHMAN
