In a move poised to extend vital natural gas production amid looming shortages, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources approved Hilcorp Alaska’s plan amendment on October 7, 2025, to upgrade infrastructure at K Pad in the Beluga River Unit (BRU). The project, targeting three new wells, will enhance gas extraction from the Cook Inlet field, directly supporting the energy needs of Southcentral Alaska’s Railbelt utilities, including Chugach Electric Association.
Located on the west side of Cook Inlet, roughly two miles west of the Beluga River’s mouth, K Pad’s enhancements include installing well cellars and conductors, subsurface flowlines, three separator skids, a line heater skid, and relocating a 10,000-gallon produced water tank from B Pad. The Division of Oil and Gas reviewed the September 18 proposal under state statutes, with no comments from agencies like the Department of Environmental Conservation or U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
This expansion is critical as Railbelt utilities face expiring Hilcorp contracts by 2028, threatening power reliability for over 90,000 rate payers. Chugach, holding a two-thirds working interest in BRU, relies on the field for 60% of its gas. Chugach stated in its power generation update, they have co-invested in 15 new wells at BRU with Hilcorp, and five more wells are planned for 2025, underscoring the project’s role in bridging supply gaps before LNG imports ramp up.
The upgrade aligns with 2018 Cook Inlet mitigation measures, promoting efficient development without new land claims. While Hilcorp must secure additional permits, the decision advances Alaska’s energy security, potentially averting price spikes for households and businesses.
This is significant! Go Hilcorp!
Now we will have to wade through years of lawsuits by climate Alarmists and stop measures by commie federal district judges.
Save the Belugas! – will be their battle cry.
These people are really turning out to be the enemy of Free Men.
Is this an indicator that MRAK will now begin reporting on important energy issues? No. Obviously.
From the looks of it, this is mainly a rate acceleration project that will therefore add some, but not a large quantity of gas reserves. Translation: There will be little “new” gas added, but rather existing, known gas in the ground will be produced sooner and thereby increase the near-term field production rate. If true, future rates will therefore fall faster than they otherwise would have. That’s fine as a stopgap measure, but it will not come close to being a real solution for the Southcentral Alaska gas situation. Beluga is an old, formerly prolific gas field that has done its duty, but its glory days are over.
Does anyone out there have further information on this point?
You are 100% correct. This is not new reserves at all. Furthermore, BRU wells are showing significant declines and each additional dollar spent at BRU is generating diminishing gas returns. Hilcorp is throwing gobs of money around (mind you, Chugach pays 66% of BRU’s bills), onshore and offshore, because they are on the hook for providing a ridiculous amount of gas that they do not have. Harsh reality is, we cannot drill our way out of the gas supply crisis (and it IS a crisis); not at BRU and nowhere else in the 50+ year-old haggard Kenai/Cook Inlet gas fields. We need a new gas discovery – and a very large one – which doesn’t exist. Importing LNG is the only feasible stopgap until AKLNG happens (once we find $60-100B to pay for that project…) and Hilcorp is already well on its way to monopolizing not only the storage infrastructure for imported LNG but the imported LNG supply itself. A quick search of their recent RCA filings will lead you down that disturbing rabbit hole… My advice: buy a wood stove ASAP and pray hard for no subzero temperature plummets like there were two winters ago.
Well, thank God: our government is finally doing something to benefit Alaskans!
More importantly, will the expansion lead to lower natural gas prices at the residential meters? I am all for “averting price spikes”, but how about some real world reduction in ENSTAR Service Charge (Base) and the Supplier Gas Cost Charge (GCA) applied per one hundred cubic feet (CCF) of natural gasl?
Nope. Gas prices are most definitely not going down. It’s costing more and more money to find fewer and fewer gas molecules. Simple supply and demand. And just wait until LNG is imported to fill the energy gap. Those per MCF costs are outrageous. Until that time, prepare for rationing and rolling brownouts. The situation is very bad.