ConocoPhillips Developing Nuna Project from Kuparuk 3T Drill Site
Judy Patrick
ConocoPhillips Alaska approved funding to develop the Nuna project from the 3T drill site in the Kuparuk River Unit (KRU). Construction activities begin this year and will continue in 2024 with pipeline and on-pad construction. Drilling is anticipated to begin in late 2024.
“Nuna” Means “Land”
ConocoPhillips Alaska anticipates first oil from Nuna by early 2025. Production is expected to peak at 20,000 barrels of oil per day.
The Nuna project will add twenty-nine development wells, on-pad infrastructure, and pipelines that tie back to existing KRU processing facilities. Drill site 3T is the forty-ninth drill site developed within the KRU. A gravel road and pad to the site were constructed by Caelus, which transferred its Nuna acreage to ConocoPhillips in 2019.
The Nuna prospect, located just east of the Colville River and approximately 5 miles southwest of the Oooguruk Field, was announced as a discovery in 2012. The acquisition from Caelus covered 21,000 acres on eleven tracts. At the time, ConocoPhillips said Nuna was a way to expand its North Slope position while utilizing KRU infrastructure.
Current Issue
May 2025
“The additional drilling opportunities we’ve identified at Nuna are a positive development that should increase oil production at Kuparuk,” says ConocoPhillips Alaska President Erec Isaacson. “Our investment in this project was approved due to Alaska’s stable fiscal regime, which is clearly working to promote new and ongoing investment.”
ConocoPhillips Alaska will continue to invest about $1 billion a year in its Alaska projects. In Kuparuk, the company is planning to move forward on Coyote and Narwhal, as well, while also undertaking additional West Sak development.
“We are focusing on well work to keep our existing fields healthy and online in Kuparuk,” Isaacson says. “There are lots of little things happening around our existing assets, which are impressive in themselves.”
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