BP’s Sag River project continues; company reviewing activity level

BP continues to move ahead with its Sag River development in the Prudhoe Bay field on Alaska’s North Slope, company spokeswoman Dawn Patience told Petroleum News in a Jan. 27 email. However, the company is still evaluating the situation on the North Slope in the light of the sharp fall in oil prices. The company recently announced that it is going to cut costs through a 13 percent reduction in Alaska jobs.

“We are evaluating our activity level at Prudhoe Bay and adjusting the activity in response to the lower oil price environment,” Patience said. “Improving the cost basis is critical to maintaining our activity level at Prudhoe Bay and the long-term viability of an Alaska LNG project.”

A couple of years ago BP announced a major development program at Prudhoe Bay, involving the use of additional drilling rigs, the drilling of new wells and the debottlenecking of some field facilities.

During 2015 Prudhoe Bay saw a high level of work, with the completion of nearly 450 well workovers and about 95 wells, Patience said.

The development of the Sag River formation, a relatively thin and technically challenging oil reservoir above the main Prudhoe Bay reservoir, was slated to involve a 16-well drilling program in 2015 and 2016, with the ultimate possibility of 200 wells and perhaps 200 million barrels of new oil. To date BP has completed nine of the Sag River wells, Patience said.

- ALAN BAILEY