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BP planning summer Z Pad expansion Expansion will promote heavy and light oil recovery of Orion and Polaris pools through the Western Region Development Program Eric Lidji Petroleum News
BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. plans to start expanding the Z Pad this summer as part of wide-ranging efforts to develop the viscous oil deposits in the western region of Prudhoe Bay.
Starting in late June or early July, BP plans to place 40,000 cubic yards of gravel to extend the pad at two points along its northern edge and to bolster the access road leading to the site.
The expansion is part of the Western Region Development Program, a long-term effort to develop heavier oil fields in the western operating area of Prudhoe Bay, particularly the Orion and Polaris fields, and tap new reservoirs.
Z Pad sits near the southwestern corner of Prudhoe Bay along the Sakonowyak River.
Gravel fill would lay groundwork for GPP The keystone of the expansion project would be a Gas Partial Processing plant, scheduled for startup around 2011.
The Gas Partial Processing plant will receive the three-phase production of oil-gas-water from four surrounding pads — Z, W, L and V — and separate out only some of the gas. That gas will be used to enhance oil recovery on the west side of Prudhoe Bay.
Pulling out most of the gas also makes the remaining fluid easier to ship through the pipelines leading back to Gathering Center 2 and on to the trans-Alaska oil pipeline.
The modules for the plant would be brought in by sea and trucked to Z Pad sometime around 2010. Trucking the pieces would require BP to upgrade and widen the access road this summer. The company is also weighing plans to replace four culverts along the road to improve drainage.
Through WorleyParsons, BP contracted ProSep Technologies, an American affiliate of the Canadian company TORR Canada Inc., to provide between $850,000 and nearly $5 million in engineering and design services involved with gas treatment on the project.
ProSep and TCI provide oil and gas separation services.
Future expansion includes new operations center The expansion would also include construction of a new operations center and a new flare pad at the site between the spring and fall of 2009, according to an application filed with the state Division of Coastal Management.
While the expansion is focused on heavier oil deposits, BP also plans to recover light oil from the Borealis, Eileen West End and Northwest Eileen reservoirs using new drilling and processing facilities at Z Pad.
The Division of Coastal Management will take comments through April 21. Pending approval, BP would need to also secure a wetlands permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and permits from the state Division of Oil and Gas.
Economics still a question BP put question marks around the Z Pad project earlier this year, saying recent tax increases complicated the economics of the Western Regional Development Program.
As a result, the company said it would defer around $1 billion of the program, estimated to cost around $1.8 billion overall.
The likelihood of BP installing a new I Pad is still uncertain.
BP plans to spend $800 million on capital projects in Alaska this year. Announcing the budget in January, the company said about half would go toward upgrading existing facilities, about $200 million would go toward infill drilling and around $150 million would go toward developing the Liberty project.
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