petroleum news, page-3

Emerald House, a wholly owned subsidiary of 88
Energy, acquired the Umiat oil field in the National
Petroleum Reserve-Alaska in early January.
This spring, Emerald House plugged and abandoned
one of the existing wells at the field, completing the work
April 2, but that work wasn’t done according to requirements set out by the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation
Commission, which ensure the work is done properly,
and AOGCC has fined the company $40,000.
In a June 10 letter, AOGCC Chair Jeremy Price told
Erik Opstad, vice president of Emerald House, that the
company “failed to comply with the conditions imposed”
in the work procedures it set out.
Four issues were cited:
•Cement pumping began into tubing and tubing-casing
annulus of the well on March 22, but the cementing procedure was submitted to the commission March 24. Prior
approval of the commission is required before beginning
cementing operations.
•An attempt to pump cement into the ¼-inch chemical
injection line on March 23 was not successful and cement
plugs were pumped into the tubing and tubing-casing on
March 22. The commission required cementing the
chemical injection line before pumping cement plugs into
the tubing and tubing-casing annulus.
•Daily operation summaries were submitted to the
commission on March 25 and April 1, 2 and 3, but plug
and abandonment operations were begun March 20. The
commission required daily reports once operations begin.
•The commission’s regulations require reservoir
cement plug verification before placing the cement plug.
This procedure was changed without prior AOGCC
approval and cement was pumped to the surface in both
tubing and tubing-casing annulus “eliminating the
required plug tag and pressure test verifications,” the
commission said.