40 years of North Slope oil flow

Prudhoe Bay and the trans-Alaska oil pipeline reached the 40-year mark June 20. Prudhoe, originally expected to produce some 9.6 billion barrels, has already produced more than 12.5 billion barrels, field operator BP said in a statement, making Prudhoe the most productive U.S. oil field of all time.

Production began from Prudhoe, then the only producing North Slope field, on June 20, 1977.

“Forty years is extraordinary for a field that was supposed to have a 30-year life,” said BP Upstream Chief Executive Bernard Looney in a statement. “With continued innovation and investment, the expertise of our people and an unwavering commitment to safe and reliable operations, we firmly believe that the story of Prudhoe Bay is far from over.”

BP credited the additional 3 billion barrels produced beyond original expectations to oilfield technology innovations. (See stories on some of those innovations in this issue and in the June 18 issue of Petroleum News.)

BP said that Prudhoe remains the third-largest oil field in the U.S. by proved reserves, behind the Eagle Ford shale and Spraberry fields in Texas.

Janet Weiss, president of BP’s Alaska region, said Prudhoe “has repeatedly defied the odds and remains a major contributor to U.S. energy security and to the state’s economy.”

Working interest owners at Prudhoe include BP at 26 percent, ConocoPhillips at 36 percent, ExxonMobil at 36 percent and Chevron at 1 percent.

- KRISTEN NELSON