ANCHORAGE, Alaska –ConocoPhillips Alaska today announced it has signed a contract with Nabors Alaska Drilling to build a new Coiled Tubing Drilling (CTD) Rig for use in the ConocoPhillips-operated Kuparuk River Unit on Alaska’s North Slope. This represents the second new-build drilling rig ConocoPhillips has announced since tax reform legislation was passed by the Alaska legislature.
The new Nabors CDR3 CTD rig is scheduled to begin drilling in late 2016, and will join the ConocoPhillips North Slope rig fleet that includes other recent additions Nabors 7ES and 9ES, as well as the recently announced new-build rig Doyon 142, scheduled to begin drilling in early 2016. Each rig requires about 100 direct workers and supports hundreds of indirect jobs. To date, rigs 7ES and 9ES have added over 8,000 barrels of oil per day to Kuparuk production.
“Coiled tubing drilling has proven very successful at Kuparuk, helping to maximize oil recovery in a complex reservoir,” said Trond-Erik Johansen, president ConocoPhillips Alaska. “Doubling our Kuparuk CTD capacity will allow us to access more challenged oil and help stem North Slope production decline. The improved business climate created by SB 21 has been an important factor in our decision to increase our drilling activity on the North Slope.”
CTD is a leading edge technology that utilizes spools of continuous tubing to re-enter existing wells and then drill multiple horizontal laterals from a central wellbore. CTD has proven successful in producing oil resources that might otherwise be left in the ground. Sister rig CDR2 has drilled 80 wells since it began operations in 2009.
In addition to increasing the number of rigs in its North Slope rig fleet, ConocoPhillips has announced several major development activities since the passage of SB 21. Among the projects being pursued are Greater Mooses Tooth #1 in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska; Drill Site 2S in the Kuparuk River Unit, approved for funding in October; and viscous oil development at 1H North East West Sak (NEWS) in the Kuparuk River Unit. Final approvals for 1H NEWS and GMT1 - pending acceptable federal permit approvals - are planned for the first quarter of 2015. GMT1, 1H NEWS and DS2S have a combined estimated cost of about $2 billion gross and could add tens of thousands of barrels gross to North Slope production by 2018. During construction, each of the three projects will employ hundreds of workers.
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About ConocoPhillips Alaska
ConocoPhillips has been leading the search for energy in Alaska for more than 50 years. The company is committed to responsibly developing Alaska’s resources, providing economic opportunity for Alaska, operating at the highest safety standards and being good stewards of our communities. For more information, visit www.conocophillipsalaska.com.
Contact
Natalie Lowman
907-263-4153
n.m.lowman@cop.com
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