Pioneer initiates oil production from Oooguruk
  by: OilOnline
  Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Pioneer Natural Resources Company has announced that production and sales from the Oooguruk Unit on the North Slope have commenced as scheduled.  Pioneer is the first independent to initiate new field operations on the North Slope and has set a new precedent for North Slope offshore development by bringing Oooguruk on line in less than five years. Pioneer (70% working interest owner and operator) and its partner, Eni (30% working interest owner), sanctioned the Oooguruk development in early 2006 after drilling three exploration wells during the winter of 2003.

Pioneer anticipates peak gross production in 2010 of 15,000 to 20,000 barrels of oil per day (BOPD) from approximately 40 development wells (approximately half of the wells will be producing wells and half will be injection wells). These wells are expected to be drilled over the next three years. The gross oil resource potential from these base development wells is as much as 90 million barrels, before expansion opportunities. Field life is expected to be 25 to 30 years.

In commissioning the system and evaluating initial production data, Pioneer expects to initially produce 2,000 to 3,000 gross BOPD from Oooguruk. Production is expected to be shut in for approximately 45 days this summer for scheduled maintenance on the onshore third-party processing facility. Thereafter, production will be reinitiated and is expected to rise as additional wells are brought on line.

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