What a difference six years make

In 1994 the industry view was that Prudhoe work was done except for in-fill wells; for the first time no new major projects were under discussion, no more sealifts planned

Kristen Nelson

PNA News Editor

Editor’s Note: We don’t mean to pick on Jim Weeks — the comments below, from an April 1994 Alaska Support Industry Alliance talk, reflect what everyone was saying at the time.

Except for drilling infill wells and replacement work, Prudhoe Bay development is done, ARCO Alaska Inc. senior vice president Jim Weeks told the Alaska Support Industry Alliance April 8, 1994.

The second phase of the $1.1 billion gas handling expansion, GHX-2, was near completion. Modules for the second sealift for the project were scheduled to be loaded on barges (outside Alaska) the following week and production at Point McIntyre had begun the previous fall, Weeks said.

Oil prices were down ($14-$15 a barrel) and Prudhoe Bay production was in decline.

“For the first time in the history of the Prudhoe Bay unit we don’t have a major project under discussion,” Weeks said. “This year, we’ll have the last sealift for the foreseeable future. After 23 years, late this year we’ll close our office in Pasadena with the Ralph G. Parsons Co., who’ve designed most of our Prudhoe Bay facilities. Prudhoe Bay development is essentially complete, except for drilling new wells. New construction will be confined to hooking up those new wells.”

Weeks said the industry needs to find more oil in Alaska, but at $14-$15 a barrel, he said, “new exploration in Alaska is extremely difficult to justify. Finding oil up here is easy — virtually everywhere we drill has oil. What’s difficult is to find reservoir-quality rock, and enough of it to be an economic petroleum reservoir.”

Stand-alone development on the North Slope would be extremely difficult, he said, unless you have a huge Prudhoe Bay quality reservoir: “New development needs to be in and around existing production.”