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Prudhoe Bay Oil Field
Prudhoe Bay Oil Field is a large oil field on Alaska's North Slope. It is the largest oil field in North America, covering 213,543 acres (86,418 ha) and originally contained approximately 25 billion barrels (4.0×109 m3) of oil. The amount of recoverable oil in the field is more than double that of the next largest field in the United States by acreage (the East Texas Oil Field), while the largest by reserves is the Permian Basin (North America). The field was operated by BP; partners were ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips until August 2019; when BP sold all its Alaska assets to Hilcorp.
The field is located 400 miles (640 km) north of Fairbanks and 650 miles (1,050 km) north of Anchorage, 250 miles (400 km) north of the Arctic Circle, and 358 miles (576 km) south of the North Pole. It is on the North Slope and lies between the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska to the west and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to the east. It is accessible by road from Fairbanks, Alaska via the Elliott Highway and Dalton Highway.
The State of Alaska owns the land and leases the area as the Prudhoe Bay Unit. In the terminology that the State of Alaska uses in its leasing program, the "Prudhoe Bay Oil Field" is called the Prudhoe Bay Oil Pool. Oil pools within the Prudhoe Bay Unit include the following – maps showing the location of each pool are in the associated reference.
The area was originally identified as a potential oil field and selected in the early 1960s as part of the 100 million acres the federal government allotted to the new state of Alaska under the Alaska Statehood Act as a form of economic support. Tom Marshall, a key state employee tasked with selecting the 100 million acres, said the geology reminded him of big oil basins he'd seen in Wyoming. Commercial oil exploration started in Prudhoe Bay area in the 1960s and, after a number of fruitless years, a rig produced a natural gas flare in December 1967. The oil field was confirmed on March 12, 1968, by Humble Oil (which later became part of Exxon) and Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO), with the well Prudhoe Bay State #1. ARCO was the operating partner. Drilling sites for the discovery and confirmation wells were staked by geologist Marvin Mangus. BP was among the companies that had been active in the region, and BP was able to establish itself as a major player in the western part of the Prudhoe field. The field was initially operated as two separate developments, the BP Western Operating Area and the ARCO Eastern Operating Area. Upon acquisition of ARCO by BP and sale of ARCO Alaska assets to Phillips Petroleum in 2000, the two operating areas were consolidated and BP became the sole operator of the field. In 1974 the State of Alaska's Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys estimated that the field held 10 billion barrels (1.6×109 m3) of oil and 26 trillion cubic feet (740×109 m3) of natural gas. Production did not begin until June 20, 1977 when the Alaska Pipeline was completed.
The site of the field's discovery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000, and has a commemorative marker. A well was operated at that site until 1985.
The field was initially operated as two separate developments, the BP Western Operating Area (WOA: Oil Rim) and the ARCO Eastern Operating Area (EOA: Gas Cap). Upon the acquisition of ARCO by BP and the sale of ARCO Alaska assets to Phillips Petroleum in 2000, the two operating areas were consolidated and BP became the sole operator of the field.
In the field, oil is moved through pipelines from about 1000 wells to a pumping station at the head of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline; "flow lines" carry oil from the wells to local processing centers, then through "transit lines" to the pumping station. According to a 2007 recording of a BP representative, to replace the "huge volume of material" BP removes from beneath the ground, seawater is injected that is collected from Prudhoe Bay.
North Slope oil production peaked in 1989 at 2 million barrels per day (320×103 m3/d) (Greater Prudhoe Bay: 1.5 million barrels per day (240×103 m3/d), but had fallen to 943,000 barrels per day (149,900 m3/d) in 2005, while Greater Prudhoe averaged 411,000 barrels per day (65,300 m3/d) in December 2006 and Prudhoe itself averaged 285,000 barrels per day (45,300 m3/d). Total production from 1977 through 2005 was 11 billion barrels (1.7×109 m3).
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Prudhoe Bay Oil Field
Prudhoe Bay Oil Field is a large oil field on Alaska's North Slope. It is the largest oil field in North America, covering 213,543 acres (86,418 ha) and originally contained approximately 25 billion barrels (4.0×109 m3) of oil. The amount of recoverable oil in the field is more than double that of the next largest field in the United States by acreage (the East Texas Oil Field), while the largest by reserves is the Permian Basin (North America). The field was operated by BP; partners were ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips until August 2019; when BP sold all its Alaska assets to Hilcorp.
The field is located 400 miles (640 km) north of Fairbanks and 650 miles (1,050 km) north of Anchorage, 250 miles (400 km) north of the Arctic Circle, and 358 miles (576 km) south of the North Pole. It is on the North Slope and lies between the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska to the west and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to the east. It is accessible by road from Fairbanks, Alaska via the Elliott Highway and Dalton Highway.
The State of Alaska owns the land and leases the area as the Prudhoe Bay Unit. In the terminology that the State of Alaska uses in its leasing program, the "Prudhoe Bay Oil Field" is called the Prudhoe Bay Oil Pool. Oil pools within the Prudhoe Bay Unit include the following – maps showing the location of each pool are in the associated reference.
The area was originally identified as a potential oil field and selected in the early 1960s as part of the 100 million acres the federal government allotted to the new state of Alaska under the Alaska Statehood Act as a form of economic support. Tom Marshall, a key state employee tasked with selecting the 100 million acres, said the geology reminded him of big oil basins he'd seen in Wyoming. Commercial oil exploration started in Prudhoe Bay area in the 1960s and, after a number of fruitless years, a rig produced a natural gas flare in December 1967. The oil field was confirmed on March 12, 1968, by Humble Oil (which later became part of Exxon) and Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO), with the well Prudhoe Bay State #1. ARCO was the operating partner. Drilling sites for the discovery and confirmation wells were staked by geologist Marvin Mangus. BP was among the companies that had been active in the region, and BP was able to establish itself as a major player in the western part of the Prudhoe field. The field was initially operated as two separate developments, the BP Western Operating Area and the ARCO Eastern Operating Area. Upon acquisition of ARCO by BP and sale of ARCO Alaska assets to Phillips Petroleum in 2000, the two operating areas were consolidated and BP became the sole operator of the field. In 1974 the State of Alaska's Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys estimated that the field held 10 billion barrels (1.6×109 m3) of oil and 26 trillion cubic feet (740×109 m3) of natural gas. Production did not begin until June 20, 1977 when the Alaska Pipeline was completed.
The site of the field's discovery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000, and has a commemorative marker. A well was operated at that site until 1985.
The field was initially operated as two separate developments, the BP Western Operating Area (WOA: Oil Rim) and the ARCO Eastern Operating Area (EOA: Gas Cap). Upon the acquisition of ARCO by BP and the sale of ARCO Alaska assets to Phillips Petroleum in 2000, the two operating areas were consolidated and BP became the sole operator of the field.
In the field, oil is moved through pipelines from about 1000 wells to a pumping station at the head of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline; "flow lines" carry oil from the wells to local processing centers, then through "transit lines" to the pumping station. According to a 2007 recording of a BP representative, to replace the "huge volume of material" BP removes from beneath the ground, seawater is injected that is collected from Prudhoe Bay.
North Slope oil production peaked in 1989 at 2 million barrels per day (320×103 m3/d) (Greater Prudhoe Bay: 1.5 million barrels per day (240×103 m3/d), but had fallen to 943,000 barrels per day (149,900 m3/d) in 2005, while Greater Prudhoe averaged 411,000 barrels per day (65,300 m3/d) in December 2006 and Prudhoe itself averaged 285,000 barrels per day (45,300 m3/d). Total production from 1977 through 2005 was 11 billion barrels (1.7×109 m3).