Aging Prudhoe Bay field still holds a lot of hard-to-get oil

Alaska Journal of Commerce ^ | April 6, 2008 | Tim Bradner

[george76]

60 percent of the estimated 25 billion barrels of oil in the reservoir rock at Prudhoe will be recovered.

[RightWhale]

Find stuff about the Alaska Gas Pipeline project Denali. Prudhoe oil is so over.

[george76]

horizontal and multilateral wells, as well as designer wells

[george76]

Waterflood is considered a secondary recovery process with water extracted from the Beaufort Sea. Seawater was treated and then injected.

[george76]

Carbon dioxide is used now with EOR projects in the Lower 48 and could be effective on the North Slope in unlocking difficult-to-produce viscous and heavy oil, Utsler said.

[Waverunner]

Finally Al Gore has a market to deliver all those CO2 credits he’s been selling.

[DustyMoment]

Ya have to wonder wht the reporter did to get an assignment to watch oil age and distinguish between old and new oil!

/sarc

[BoneHead]

Finally Al Gore has a market to deliver all those CO2 credits he’s been selling.

No, the Oil Company's have another income generator since they will be taking the CO2 and injecting it. They should be able to sell the credits for removing CO2 from the atmosphere.

What's all doing to remove CO2, gives him the credits to sell? Seems he just keeps breathing and talking.....

[BoneHead]

What's all doing to remove....

What's Albore doing to remove....

OOps

[ChiefJayStrongbow]

Al Gore got a sweetheart deal as he left office to purchase from the Navy, part of the Prudhoe Bay strategic oil reserver.

[thackney]

West Sak, Schrader Bluff and Ugnu have an estimated 36 Billion barrels in cold, shallower fields. West Sak and Schrader Bluff have flowing commercial wells now. ConocoPhillips did some experimental techniques that paid off producing this heavier oil. BP has developed some enhanced oil recovery that uses warm water from deeper reservoirs to warm colder shallower fields. They are already is service and producing oil that was considered unrecoverable 20 years ago.

The Alaska North Slope in many of the existing field including Prudhoe will still have producing wells 50 years from now. (in my opinion)

[thackney]

Only if you have a significant source of CO2. CO2 from some of the gas fields might be used if they Alaskan Gas Pipeline ever gets built. See above post for other options.

[george76]

Thanks.

It is good to see new ideas working to extend the productive life of these fields.

Likely, even newer ideas are in the works ?

[thackney]

quite likely

[RightWhale]

TAPS carried 2 million barrels a day at the start. That is velocity. What they are getting now is somewhat more than a crawl. Not cheap oil either.

[thackney]

Not at the start but at the peak. (1988)

Average flowrates and volumes available at:
http://www.alyeska-pipe.com/PipelineFacts/Throughput.html

[freekitty]

I haven’t heard that name in a while. LOL

[george76]

Welcome back.

How was the island ?

[proud_yank]

Great! How you been?