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Home My WebLink AboutCO 828CONSERVATION ORDER 828 Colville River Unit North Slope Borough, Alaska 1. October 8, 2025 CPAI Application to Amend Allowable Gas Offtake Rate STATE OF ALASKA ALASKA OIL AND GAS CONSERVATION COMMISSION 333 West 7th Avenue Anchorage Alaska 99501 Re: THE APPLICATION OF ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc. to increase the allowable gas offtake rate from the Colville River Unit. And ON ITS OWN MOTION the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission consolidating gas offtake rules for the Colville River Unit into a single order. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Docket Number: CO 24-013 Conservation Order 828 Colville River Unit North Slope Borough, Alaska December 10, 2025 IT APPEARING THAT: 1. By application dated October 8, 2024, ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. (CPAI) requested that the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (AOGCC) increase the allowable gas offtake rate for the Colville River Unit (CRU) from 7 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFPD) to 25 MMSCFPD, both rates are on an annualized average basis. 2. On its own motion, the AOGCC has decided to simplify oversight and compliance of the gas offtake limit by having a standalone order on this matter instead of rules in the pool rules for the various pools in the CRU. FINDINGS: 1. Existing Orders with Gas Offtake Rules for the CRU Rule 12 of Conservation Order (CO) 443D established the gas offtake rate for the Alpine Oil Pool as 7 MMSCFPD on an annualized average basis. Rule 12 also said the gas offtake rule applied to all other pools in the CRU. Gas offtake rules also exist for the Nanuq (CO 562.005) and Qannik (Rule 11 of CO 605A) Oil Pools. 2. Affected Area This order shall apply to the CRU as currently defined and as it may be adjusted in the future. 3. CPAI’s Request CPAI requests to increase the allowable gas offtake rate for the CRU from 7 MMSCFPD to 25 MMSCFPD on an annualized average basis in order to meet contractual obligations to provide gas to the Village of Nuiqsut, operational needs at the Greater Moose’s Tooth Unit (GMTU), and for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) injection operations in the GMTU.1 1 CPAI stated in its request that the gas offtake limit was also necessary to provide gas to the Alpine Transportation Company for Alpine Oil Pipeline operations. The AOGCC considers this to be lease use and thus it does not count against the gas off take limit for the CRU. CO 828 December 10, 2025 Page 2 of 3 4. Relationship of CRU to GMTU The GMTU ships three-phase fluid to the CRU so that it may be commingled with production from the CRU and processed at the Alpine Central Facility (ACF) so that the oil may be sold, and the water and gas can be utilized for field operations and injection in the CRU and GMTU. The GMTU produces a significant amount of gas, a relatively small amount of which is used for GMTU operations, but the majority of the gas is used for EOR purposes in the CRU and the GMTU. The amount of gas needed for EOR purposes in the GMTU varies depending on how many of the water alternating gas (WAG) injection wells are being utilized for a gas injection cycle at that time. At times the GMTU will need significantly more gas than would be allowed to ship under the existing 7 MMSCFPD gas offtake limit. CONCLUSIONS: 1. Optimizing ultimate recovery from the CRU and GMTU requires flexibility to best utilize the gas for EOR purposes. 2. A 25 MMSCFPD on an annualized basis gas offtake limit will be large enough to provide CPAI with the operational flexibility it needs to maximize production from the two fields. 3. Consolidating the CRU gas offtake rules in a single location will make AOGCC oversight and CPAI compliance easier to track. NOW THEREFORE IT IS ORDERED: Rule 12 of CO 443D, Rule 11 of CO 605A, and CO 562.005 are hereby repealed. For the Colville River Unit the following rules apply: 1. These rules apply to the Colville River Unit as its borders are currently set and as the borders may be adjusted in the future. 2. These rules apply to all pools, whether defined or not, that currently or may in the future exist in the Colville River Unit. 3. The allowable gas offtake limit for the Colville River unit is 25 MMSCFPD on an annualized average basis. 4. Natural gas may not be severed from the CRU for any purposes other than to meet ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc.’s contractual obligations of providing the Village of Nuiqsut with natural gas and to support the development in the Greater Moose’s Tooth Unit. DONE at Anchorage, Alaska and dated December 10, 2025. Jessie L. Chmielowski Gregory C. Wilson Commissioner Commissioner Gregory C Wilson Digitally signed by Gregory C Wilson Date: 2025.12.10 12:55:09 -09'00' Jessie L. Chmielowski Digitally signed by Jessie L. Chmielowski Date: 2025.12.10 13:43:02 -09'00' CO 828 December 10, 2025 Page 3 of 3 RECONSIDERATION AND APPEAL NOTICE As provided in AS 31.05.080(a), within 20 days after written notice of the entry of this order or decision, or such further time as the AOGCC grants for good cause shown, a person affected by it may file with the AOGCC an application for reconsideration of the matter determined by it. If the notice was mailed, then the period of time shall be 23 days. An application for reconsideration must set out the respect in which the order or decision is believed to be erroneous. The AOGCC shall grant or refuse the application for reconsideration in whole or in part within 10 days after it is filed. Failure to act on it within 10-days is a denial of reconsideration. If the AOGCC denies reconsideration, upon denial, this order or decision and the denial of reconsideration are FINAL and may be appealed to superior court. The appeal MUST be filed within 33 days after the date on which the AOGCC mails, OR 30 days if the AOGCC otherwise distributes, the order or decision denying reconsideration, UNLESS the denial is by inaction, in which case the appeal MUST be filed within 40 days after the date on which the application for reconsideration was filed. If the AOGCC grants an application for reconsideration, this order or decision does not become final. Rather, the order or decision on reconsideration will be the FINAL order or decision of the AOGCC, and it may be appealed to superior court. That appeal MUST be filed within 33 days after the date on which the AOGCC mails, OR 30 days if the AOGCC otherwise distributes, the order or decision on reconsideration. In computing a period of time above, the date of the event or default after which the designated period begins to run is not included in the period; the last day of the period is included, unless it falls on a weekend or state holiday, in which event the period runs until 5:00 p.m. on the next day that does not fall on a weekend or state holiday. From:Coldiron, Samantha J (OGC) To:AOGCC_Public_Notices Subject:[AOGCC_Public_Notices] Conservation Order 828 (CPAI) Date:Wednesday, December 10, 2025 2:50:23 PM Attachments:CO828.pdf THE APPLICATION OF ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc. to increase the allowable gas offtake rate from the Colville River Unit. And ON ITS OWN MOTION the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission consolidating gas offtake rules for the Colville River Unit into a single order. Samantha Coldiron AOGCC Special Assistant Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission 333 West 7th Avenue Anchorage, AK 99501 (907) 793-1223 __________________________________ List Name: AOGCC_Public_Notices@list.state.ak.us You subscribed as: samantha.coldiron@alaska.gov Unsubscribe at: https://list.state.ak.us/mailman/options/aogcc_public_notices/samantha.coldiron%40alaska.go v 1 October 8, 2024 Jessie Chmielowski & Greg Wilson, Commissioners Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission 333 West Seventh Avenue Anchorage, Alaska, 99501-3572 RE: Application to Amend Allowable Gas Offtake Rate, Colville River Unit, North Slope, AK Dear Commissioners, ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc. (“CPAI”) as operator of the Colville River Unit (“CRU”) and Greater Mooses Tooth Unit (“GMTU”), requests that the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission ("Commission") approve CPAI’s application to amend the Allowable Gas Off Take Rate (“AGOTR”) from the CRU to allow additional gas from CRU to be utilized at GMTU when appropriate. Please contact Dana Glessner (265-6478) if you have questions or require additional information. Regards, Patrick Stanley WNS Operations Manager North Slope Operations Patrick Stanley WNS Operations Manager North Slope Operations ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc. ATO-1726 700 G Street Anchorage, AK 99501 phone 907.263.4774 By Samantha Coldiron at 9:59 am, Oct 09, 2024 Patrick Stanley Digitally signed by Patrick Stanley Date: 2024.10.08 15:55:03 -08'00' Application to Amend CRU AGOTR October 8, 2024 Page 2 of 5 APPLICATION TO AMEND THE ALLOWABLE GAS OFF TAKE RATE COLVILLE RIVER UNIT Request for Expanded Offtake This application is submitted for approval by the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (“Commission”) to amend the Allowable Gas Off Take Rate (“AGOTR”) for the Colville River Unit (“CRU”) to provide gas to the Greater Mooses Tooth Unit, Lookout and Rendezvous Oil Pools (“GMTU”). The current AGOTR for CRU participating areas is 7 million standard cubic feet per day (“MMCFPD”) on a cumulative annual basis, as clarified in Conservation Order (CO) No.443D. ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc. (“CPAI”) as operator of the CRU and GMTU, requests that the Commission amend the AGOTR from the CRU to be a cumulative annual basis volume of 25 MMCFPD to provide natural gas to the Village of Nuiqsut, to provide operations gas to the Alpine Transportation Company (“ATC”) for the Alpine Oil Pipeline, and to provide gas for GMTU operational needs and injection for enhanced oil recovery (“EOR”). It is also requested that this AGOTR apply to all currently defined pools within the CRU and any future pools that commingle production at the Alpine Central Facility (“ACF”). Background In 2018, the Commission approved an AGOTR not to exceed 7 MMCFPD from the Colville River Field (“CRF”) for the purposes of meeting the contractual obligations of providing the Village of Nuiqsut with natural gas and to support the development of Lookout and Rendezvous Oil Pools in the GMTU. In 2021 the Alpine Pool rules were revised (No. 443D) to clarify the AGOTR should be considered on a cumulative annual basis. In addition, the AGOTR applies to any new Pools that process production at the ACF. The current Oil Pools processing production from the ACF are the Alpine, Nanuq, Qannik, Lookout and Rendezvous oil pools. The GMTU began production into the ACF from the Lookout Oil Pool in October 2018 and from the Rendezvous Oil Pool in November of 2021. Production from the CRU and GMTU Oil Pools is commingled and processed at the ACF. The commingled gas is consumed within the CRU and GMTU for operational purposes, can be injected for enhanced oil recovery (“EOR”) purposes in the CRU and GMTU, and is provided to the Village of Nuiqsut and the Alpine Transportation Company. As a frame of reference, CRU provided 0.323 MMCFPD to the Village of Nuiqsut during August 2024, 0.553 MMSCFD to ATC, and 17 MMCFPD to GMTU. However, given the cyclical nature of WAG enhanced oil recovery, and the best-player plays approach to keeping wells online, injection rates have varied significantly at CRU and GMTU and will continue to vary as the operational needs of the collective fields producing into the ACF evolve and change. GMTU Requirement for Gas from the CRU In the near term, production from the GMTU is expected to generate significant excess gas. In most instances, the amount of GMTU return gas will exceed gas requirements of the GMTU. This gas will be used at CRU for enhanced recovery purposes. There will be months, however, when the GMTU will need gas beyond what it produces for its operations. During cycles when GMTU injection wells are converted from water injection to enriched gas injection, it is expected that GMTU gas requirements may periodically be greater than the available GMTU gas production. Consequently, CRU gas (or GMTU gas previously injected into CRU reservoirs) will be necessary on these occasions for GMTU operations. Figure 1 shows historical and forecasted gas sales from the CRU to the GMTU since 2018 through 2030. Figure 2 shows the net cumulative GMTU gas injected into CRU. Overall, it is forecasted through 2030 that GMTU will inject a net of 73,000 MMCF of gas into the CRU, resulting in substantial net cumulative balance of GMTU gas injected into the CRU. Additional gas in CRU will be used for EOR purposes to Application to Amend CRU AGOTR October 8, 2024 Page 3 of 5 enhance displacement efficiency and assist with reservoir throughput as the waterflood matures resulting in a net benefit in oil production from the CRU oil fields. Justification for Expanded Offtake The justification for increasing the AGOTR to a cumulative annual basis volume of 25 MMCFPD is as follows: 1) The increased offtake will provide for a cumulative annual average of 25 MMCFPD for the Village of Nuiqsut, the Alpine Transportation Company, and for GMTU operations and enhanced oil recovery purposes. 2) CRU gas will be periodically needed by the GMTU for operational purposes and to maximize efficient oil recovery from the GMTU. 3) CRU oil recovery will benefit from the net increased gas injection that GMTU production provides. Application to Amend CRU AGOTR October 8, 2024 Page 4 of 5 Figure 1. Historical + Forecasted Gas Sales from CRU to GMTU through 2030 Application to Amend CRU AGOTR October 8, 2024 Page 5 of 5 Figure 2. Cumulative Net GMTU Gas Injection into CRU through 2030 73,000 MMCF Cumulative through 2030