88 Energy will try once again
Australian independent 88 Energy isn’t giving up on the North Slope, despite setbacks on two exploration wells in recent years. The company plans another test southwest of its unsuccessful Winx test drilled last winter, this initiative is aimed at potential deposits in Torok and Schrader Bluff sand formations.

Production near Dalton Hwy
U.K.-based Pantheon Resources will develop its Alkaid oil project in a phased project with first production beginning in 2021. The company said it would begin with three to four mobile production units placed near existing delineation wells. A 50-well operation is planned eventually. Oil will initially be trucked to Prudhoe Bay on the Dalton Highway, which is adjacent to the production locations. The company plans to produce from both Alkaid and an adjacent deposit, Phecda. Between the two about 90 million to 135 million barrels of recoverable reserves are now estimated.

BlueCrest: Higher production
BlueCrest Energy has increased oil production from its Cosmopolitan field in Cook Inlet to about 2,000 barrels per day and hopes to double that in the next year using an unusual technique of drilling numerous production legs off well bores drilled from onshore. “Multilateral” wells are common on the North Slope but BlueCrest has developed an unusual approach of drilling the main well below the producing formation, which is relatively shallow at about 7,000 feet, and then drilling production legs up into the productive rock with some wells being drilled almost vertically. The company has tested its so-called “fishbone” technique with wells recently drilled at Cosmopolitan. Cosmopolitan also has a natural gas deposit overlying the oil field. BlueCrest plans to build small production platforms when that is developed, which will depend on markets.

Nuna deposit to ConocoPhillips
Caelus Energy has sold its small Nuna oil project near the Oooguruk field to ConocoPhillips. Oooguruk itself was sold recently to Eni Oil and Gas, which owns the nearby Nikaitchuq field. Caelus has shed assets in Alaska but retains interests in the Smith Bay discovery off the coast of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, which needs further testing but which could be a significant find. A key aspect of the acquisition is that ConocoPhillips owns pipelines and producing infrastructure in the nearby Kuparuk River field. Assuming Nuna’s oil will be processed there, this should eliminate commercial problems that confronted Oooguruk because of the different ownerships of the field and the support infrastructure. If developed, Nuna is expected to be capable of 25,000 barrels per day. ConocoPhillips’ timetable for development is yet to be determined, the company said.

Pikka oil startup in 2022?
OilSearch hopes to have its Pikka project in production in 2022 instead of 2023 in the current plan, company officials told the Resource Development Council June 26. OilSearch also said two delineation wells drilled last winter came in ahead of schedule and under budget, and that one well, Pikka B, intersected the thickest “pay zone” of oil in rocks of 350 feet compared with 200 feet in other Pikka wells drilled by Oil Search. Pikka B also flowed at an initial rate of 2,410 barrels per day of light oil, limited by testing equipment. When that is adjusted for the well has the potential of flowing up to 3,800 barrels per day.