State approves two new Kuparuk wells, keeping Drill Site 1H active

Two more wells at ConocoPhillips’ Drill Site 1H could mean another round of work for North Slope crews, contractors and support services, while helping keep one of Kuparuk’s most productive pads moving without the cost of building a new hub. The state approved the company’s request on April 28 to add wells 1H-198 and 1H-199, a small but telling sign that activity at Kuparuk is still being maintained and reworked rather than left to age in place.

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil and Gas signed off after ConocoPhillips submitted the amendment on April 17. The approval covers the wells themselves and related work at the site, including well houses, conductors, well cellars, temporary mouseholes, appurtenances and tie-ins. Construction was expected to begin the same day the state approved the request, with drilling to start in May, and the wells are slated to be drilled in order, first 1H-198 and then 1H-199.

The project is not a stand-alone expansion. The new wells will replace two aging wells at Drill Site 1H and be tied into existing infrastructure, which is the kind of work that keeps production flowing in an established field. Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission records show the site had 11 active wells and seven shut-in wells in March, the most recent production data available. Production from Drill Site 1H accounted for 14% of Kuparuk output that month, making the pad a meaningful piece of the field’s near-term performance.

That matters far beyond the pad itself. On the North Slope Borough, drilling and tie-in work ripple through contractor hiring, logistics, air and ground support, and ultimately the tax base that helps fund borough operations. When a company chooses to keep investing in an existing site instead of moving on to a new build, it can still mean steady work for welders, mechanics, rig crews and transport companies that depend on the field’s ongoing maintenance cycle.

Kuparuk remains a major asset in Alaska’s oil economy. ConocoPhillips says the field is about 40 miles west of Prudhoe Bay, was discovered in 1969 by Sinclair Oil Corp. and acquired that year by ARCO. The company describes Kuparuk as North America’s second-largest oil field and says it is Alaska’s largest oil producer, with major hubs in Prudhoe Bay, Kuparuk and the Western North Slope.

The new 1H wells also fit a longer pattern at Drill Site 1H. In 2015, ConocoPhillips said its 1H NEWS project was a roughly $460 million gross investment that added a 9.3-acre extension to the existing site and was designed for 19 new wells. First oil came in November 2017. The latest approval suggests the company is still using the site as a flexible production center, extending the life of an older pad rather than signaling a wholesale expansion. For borough observers, that is the key question now: not whether Kuparuk is growing fast, but whether it is holding steady.