|
Technology key to Prudhoe future
3-D survey, two new rigs planned
Alan Bailey Petroleum News
Some 40 years after the startup of the Prudhoe Bay oil field, field operator BP anticipates continuing its operations in Alaska for another 40 years, Fabian Wirnkar, BP vice president for reservoir development, told a meeting of the Commonwealth North Energy Action Coalition on Oct. 5. As the Prudhoe Bay field matures, the use of modern technology has become critical to extending field life and to maintaining the field’s economic viability, Wirnkar said.
New seismic survey As part of its commitment to Prudhoe Bay, BP is going to conduct a new 3-D seismic survey across the field during the coming winter. The company is also bringing in two new drilling rigs next year. And BP is working with other companies operating on the North Slope to continue to figure out ways to viably produce more of the viscous oil that exists in large quantities on the Slope, Wirnkar said.
Recent major oil discoveries on the Slope have also upped assessments of how much North Slope oil remains to be developed, a factor that can also support the longevity of BP’s involvement in the region, Wirnkar commented.
Excited about gas Wirnkar said BP is very excited about the state’s efforts to monetize North Slope natural gas through the Alaska LNG project. If all of the partners in the Prudhoe Bay field sign on for the sale of gas for export, there is the potential to eventually produce about 30 trillion cubic feet of gas from the field, he said. He said that BP is working closely with the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, showing the commission the company’s computer model that forecasts when gas production from Prudhoe Bay may become more economical than oil production. However, that changeover date is not a fixed target and can change, if new oil reserves are established in the field, Wirnkar said.
Evolution of the field Whereas, when Prudhoe Bay first went into operation, the field reservoir pressure was high and there was a 600-foot oil column, production over the years has lowered the pressure, while the remaining oil in place has fragmented into a series of relatively small pockets. Waterflood and gas injection have been used to sustain the reservoir pressure to levels where oil production can continue. Currently BP recycles about 8 billion cubic feet of gas per day through the field reservoir - without that gas recycling and injection, the field would no longer produce any oil, Wirnkar said.
Continued operation depends on efficiently, economically and safely developing the resources that are known to exist, while also seeking new opportunities for growth, he said.
“There is still a lot that we can do here,” Wirnkar said.
State-of-the-art technology Locating and exploiting the remaining small pockets of oil in the field requires state-of-the-art technology in the form of data acquisition, storage and analysis, and in the form of sophisticated drilling techniques.
Modern seismic surveying, of the type that BP is about to conduct at Prudhoe Bay, produces crisp images, clearly showing faults and other subsurface features, enabling the location of features where further oil may be found. Then, multilateral wells, drilled out from single wells connecting to the surface, can thread though those remaining pockets of oil. At the same time, the seismic imaging can enable, for example, the precise injection of water into areas where it can be most effectively used.
Data acquisition and processing are also coming to the aid of maintenance efficiency: BP is transitioning to the use of what is termed “predictive maintenance analytics,” a data intensive technology that enables the prediction of equipment failures before failures happen. This approach improves efficiency by increasing equipment up time, Wirnkar said.
Importance of efficiency And, in the competitive world of the oil industry, efficiency is a key to success. Last year BP increased its operational efficiency by 5 percent at Prudhoe Bay, thus increasing the flow of oil through the trans-Alaska pipeline. In fact, over the past couple of years the company arrested the field’s production decline.
Although the oil price is currently above $80 per barrel, BP thinks that, as the oil market changes, the price will drop again at some stage. Continuing efficiency can ensure that field operations remain viable at lower oil prices. Moreover, efficiency at Prudhoe Bay is critical to the field’s ability to compete with oil production in the Lower 48. And competition with the Lower 48 is particularly challenging, because, with the oil service companies tending to focus their efforts on the Lower 48, those services tend to be relatively expensive in Alaska, Wirnkar said.
Wirnkar also expressed BP’s concern about the upcoming state ballot measure relating to salmon habitat - this measure, if passed, could have an impact on, for example, the company’s ability to carry out timely maintenance projects on some of its facilities, he said. He also cautioned about the need for stable taxation for the oil industry in Alaska.
But BP remains optimistic about its Alaska operations.
“We are very, very excited,” Wirnkar said. “We want to be here for the next 40 years.”
- ALAN BAILEY
|
