BP requests expansion of Prudhoe Bay boundary to add 1,000 acres

BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. is asking the State of Alaska to expand the Prudhoe Bay unit boundary lines to include a small area near the northwestern corner of the North Slope unit.

The expansion would add about 1,000 acres to the prolific unit, bringing the total acreage to around 249,677 acres. The proposed expansion would bring about half of state lease ADL 390067 into the Prudhoe Bay unit.

In addition to expanding the unit, BP is also asking to expand the Orion participating area to cover the additional acreage to the north.

Orion is part of a broader long-term effort to develop heavy and viscous oil resources in Prudhoe Bay.

Currently, BP is developing the central and southern portions of Orion using existing and expanded infrastructure at L Pad, V Pad, W Pad and Z Pad. The company has proposed building an I Pad to support the northern portion of Orion, near the expansion acreage.

That additional acreage “is capable of contributing to the production of hydrocarbons in paying quantities sufficient to justify development and production of the Orion Reservoir in this area,” the company wrote in a filing with the state.

BP recently drilled the first hexa-lateral in Alaska, a well with six underground branches, in the northern portion of the reservoir that allows the company to test six distinct sands.

The company could drill as many as seven Orion development wells, two producers and five injectors, from L Pad and V Pad through 2009.

The state is taking comments on the request through Oct. 27, and should issue a decision before year’s end.

— Eric Lidji