Northstar shutdown brings ANS down 3% 03/11/2007
Field was shut down Feb. 17 after discovery of pinhole gas leak; returns to production March 7, by March 8 producing 33,000 bpd
BP's Northstar oil field returned to production in early March, after having been shutdown in mid-February, a shutdown which dropped Alaska North Slope oil production to an average of 774,837 barrels...

Oil Patch Insider 03/11/2007
Nabors builds exploration rig for Chevron; Brooks Range group acquires Bachner acreage; Hints of success from Talisman/FEX's NPR-A drilling
Nabors Alaska Drilling is building a lightweight, high-tech AC drilling rig at the request of Chevron, which plans a multi-year drilling program on the North Slope starting next winter. Nabors Rig 10...

Eni files to drill two more Maggiore wells 02/18/2007
The Italian major's U.S. affiliate has already drilled three wells this winter, its first season as an operator on Alaska's North Slope
On Feb. 9, Eni US Operating Co. asked the State of Alaska for authorization to drill two additional wells at Eni Petroleum's North Slope Maggiore prospect. Both companies are U.S. subsidiaries of U.S....

BP names Andy Inglis head of EandP 02/11/2007
BP said Feb. 1 that Andy Inglis has been named a managing director of BP Group and will succeed Tony Hayward as chief executive of BP's Exploration and Production business, effective immediately. Ingli...

Loading slowdowns cut production 1.5% 02/11/2007
Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. slowed flow rates in mid-month as Valdez Marine Terminal storage hit 6.3 million barrels
Two slowdowns on the trans-Alaska oil pipeline in January - requests by Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. to producers to reduce production - resulted in a 1.5 percent Alaska North Slope oil production dro...

BP plans to test Ugnu production methods 02/11/2007
Viscous oil from the Schrader Bluff and West Sak formations represents only some 100 million barrels of cumulative North Slope production to date, compared to 15 billion barrels of light oil. Some 45...

New ANS facilities needed 02/11/2007
Longer field life has downside; with new 70-80 year outlook for Prudhoe more North Slope facilities will be replaced
North Slope production is expected to last much longer than was expected in the 1970s. That's the good news, Darren Jones, vice president commercial assets for ConocoPhillips Alaska, told the Alaska...

Brooks Range spuds well 02/11/2007
Brooks Range Petroleum Corp. has spud the North Shore No. 1 well on Alaska's central North Slope, north of the Prudhoe Bay oil field, the company announced Feb. 8. The well will test an oil accumulati...

Chevron moving forward in inlet, on North Slope 01/28/2007
With 40,000 barrels of oil production per day, Chevron is Alaska's fourth largest crude oil producer, Scott Davis, vice president, mid-continental business unit leader of Chevron North America, told M...

Conoco continues Alaska investments 01/28/2007
ConocoPhillips' Alaska capital investment looks to remain steady at about $800 million in 2007. That was one of the messages delivered by Randy Limbacher, the company's vice president for exploration...

KUPARUK ANNIVERSARY: Original owners still represented 01/21/2007
Ownership of the Kuparuk River unit has remained the same over the years - only some of the names have changed. Field operator ARCO Alaska reported eight other companies involved in 1981 unitization...

KUPARUK ANNIVERSARY: Newer technology at Kuparuk 01/21/2007
The Kuparuk River oil field was developed later than Prudhoe Bay and benefited from newer technology. Most obvious is the reach of drilling rigs - which dramatically reduced the size of drill sites. ...

KUPARUK ANNIVERSARY: Early wells were Kuparuk formation, in spite of names 01/21/2007
First the discovery well was the "Ugnu No 1" - Ugnu being the shortened name of a nearby river - though it is the discovery well for the Kuparuk reservoir, not the shallower Ugnu. Compounding the con...

KUPARUK ANNIVERSARY: Production begins 3 months early 01/21/2007
Kuparuk comes online in December '81 from 5 gravel drill sites in 20-mile square ARCO-owned area
Production began at the Kuparuk River oil field on Dec. 13, 1981, three months ahead of schedule. When the board gave the go-ahead in 1979 to spend $450 million for initial field development, it was...

KUPARUK ANNIVERSARY: Getting there and other challenges 01/21/2007
1979-81: initial Kuparuk development, including KOC, CPF-1, first drill sites, temporary and permanent bridges
Getting there is half the fun - or challenge - could have been the motto for initial construction at Kuparuk. First there were the sealifts and the struggle to get facilities modules to the North Slo...

KUPARUK ANNIVERSARY: Development announcement in 1979 01/21/2007
Although Kuparuk was discovered in 1969, shortly after Prudhoe Bay, it wasn't until early 1979 that Atlantic Richfield announced it was proceeding with field development. The initial drilling and deve...

KUPARUK ANNIVERSARY: Kuparuk discovery made by Sinclair at Ugnu No. 1 01/21/2007
The Kuparuk oil field was discovered in 1969 when Sinclair Oil and Gas and BP drilled the Ugnu No. 1 and tested 1,056 barrels per day of oil from the Kuparuk formation. Sinclair was an acquisition ta...

KUPARUK ANNIVERSARY: Meltwater discovered, in production 01/21/2007
Palm does better than expected; new 3-D seismic planned for Kuparuk, coiled tubing in-fill wells
Phillips Petroleum bought ARCO's Alaska assets in March 2000 and named Kevin Meyers president and CEO of Phillips Alaska, which included all of ARCO's Alaska businesses, plus all of Phillips' Alaska o...

KUPARUK ANNIVERSARY: Tarn: Satellite development begins 01/21/2007
1997 begins with announcement of discovery west of Kuparuk; testing yields in excess of 2,000 bpd
ARCO Alaska said March 10, 1997, that oil had been found in two delineation wells and a sidetrack in the Tarn prospect west of Kuparuk. Testing of the Tarn 2 yielded a steady, stimulated flow rate in...

KUPARUK ANNIVERSARY: Mid-'90s see focus on cost cutting 01/21/2007
Large-scale enhanced oil recovery approved for Kuparuk; alignment agreement will make satellite developments easier
The margins at Kuparuk are thin, an article in The Crude Gazette, the Kuparuk newsletter, explained in 1994. "Anything and everything can impact our margins, including: OPEC, the state Legislature, p...

KUPARUK ANNIVERSARY: ARCO begins in-state module building 01/21/2007
Early West Sak pilot project concluded; major 3-D seismic shoot at Kuparuk, largest ever done by ARCO in U.S.
1987 at Kuparuk began with announcement of conclusion of a two-year West Sak pilot project. Operations at the pilot facilities were suspended at the end of December. Harold Heinze, president of ARCO...

KUPARUK ANNIVERSARY: Early 1980s: Kuparuk build continues 01/21/2007
Following startup in 1981, CPF-2, CPF-3, seawater treatment plant, drill sites added; production reaches 298,000 bpd
The years immediately following Kuparuk startup in 1981 saw major facilities work completed at the field, with the addition of the second and third processing facilities and the seawater treatment pla...

KUPARUK ANNIVERSARY: Two rigs drilling West Sak at 1J pad 01/21/2007
In 2004 ConocoPhillips and the other Kuparuk owners committed to expanding West Sak heavy oil production. Because of that commitment, Kuparuk River drill site 1J is the busiest in Alaska. ConocoPhilli...

KUPARUK ANNIVERSARY: Kuparuk considered for VPP star 01/21/2007
Field will be largest upstream facility to receive OSHA classification for occupational safety, health
As a result of its safety program, Kuparuk is being evaluated for the OSHA Voluntary Protection Program. The field was recommended for a "star" rating going in, rather than "merit" with an opportunit...

KUPARUK ANNIVERSARY: ULSD plant going in at Kuparuk in '08 01/21/2007
Arctic ultra low sulfur diesel facility will serve both ConocoPhillips, BP North Slope operations
By the end of 2008 Kuparuk will produce ultra low sulfur diesel at a new facility at CPF-3. And by agreement with the Air Division at the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, that diesel...