Repsol has laid out its plans for development of new oil discoveries in the Colville River delta. In an application filed with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers June 15, the company has proposed construction of three drill sites, an operations center pad and pipelines sufficient to support 60,000 barrels per day of oil production. Once approved, the project would take about three and a half years to construct and would include 76 production and injection wells, a 150-bed operations camp as well as warehouses and maintenance buildings.

Also included are 11.1 miles of gravel in-field roads and a 13.8-mile, 38-foot-wide road from the field to a junction with existing Kuparuk field roads. A 21.5-mile, 10-inch pipeline would carry oil from the Nanushuk pad to a tie-in with the Kuparuk pipeline at the Central Processing Facility 2 in the Kuparuk River field. Repsol has not released estimates of reserves or capital costs, but Armstrong Oil and Gas, its minority partner, said one of two reservoirs that have been discovered is about 6,500 feet deep and covers 15,000 acres while a second encompasses 25,000 acres at a depth of 4,100 feet. Environmental permitting may be a challenge because of the coastal wetlands in which the project is located. A key decision will be by the Corps of Engineers on whether a more involved Environmental Impact Statement is needed or whether a streamlined Environmental Assessment will suffice.