Prudhoe Bay: Development History and Future Potential

Szabo, J.D.; Meyers, K.O.

doi:10.2118/26053-ms

Cited by 23 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…The existence of a large gas cap and the absence of a gas market have played an important role in determining the development of the field (Szabo & Meyers, 1993). Most of the ~7 BSCF/d of produced, lean gas ( Figure 3) is re-injected into the gas cap.…”

Section: Figure 1: Location Of Oil Fields On the North Slope Of Alaskamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Ivishak Sandstone reservoir consists of 400 ft of Permo-Triassic fluvio-deltaic sandstones in a gently-dipping (1 -2°), intensively-faulted anticline. The total Original Oil In Place (OOIP) is estimated to be 25 billion stb and the total Original Gas In Place (OGIP) is estimated to be 46 Tscf; the large gas cap contains 1.1 billion stb condensate (Rv = 30 stb/mmscf), 1.4 billion stb 'relict oil' and 1.5 billion stb NGLs (Szabo & Meyers, 1993). The oil is light (~28°API), with a viscosity of ~0.8 cP and a GOR of 745 scf/stb.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Compositional Surveillance Program for Assessing Prudhoe Bay Vaporization Process

Jhaveri¹,

Steen²,

Connolly³

2014

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Prudhoe Bay field, the largest oil and gas accumulation in North America, has a large gas cap in communication with the oil rim. In addition to the liquid condensate held in the gas phase, the original gas cap contains relict oil that exists in the liquid phase at low saturations and is remnant of the oil migration -spill history of the reservoir. One of the key recovery mechanisms at the Prudhoe Bay field is the use of lean gas injection to increase recovery through vaporization of relict oil and dropped-out condensate in the original gas cap, and residual oil in the expanded gas cap. The lean gas vaporization project was implemented with an initial installed gas handling capacity of 2 BCF/D which was successively expanded to 8 BCF/D in several Gas Handling eXpansion (GHX) projects making it the largest hydrocarbon gas injection project in the world. After processing the produced gas to manufacture NGLs and Miscible Injectant, the lean gas is reinjected into the Prudhoe Bay gas cap for pressure support and vaporization of liquid phase hydrocarbons. In addition to estimates of black oil benefits, design and commercial evaluation of each stage of the gas handling expansion required accurate prediction of vaporization benefits from lean gas injection.A compositional surveillance program was designed and implemented to assess the efficiency of the vaporization process in the field. This paper describes the surveillance program in which the routine separator tests conducted at the specified well locations for fluid allocation and production optimization are modified to include additional measurements of extended separator gas compositions and separator oil API gravity. The paper also presents details of an analytical procedure in which the measured compositional information from the well tests is used together with other relevant field data to deduce the effectiveness of the vaporization process. The compositional surveillance data analysis procedure is demonstrated by application to the gravity drainage area of the Prudhoe Bay field. Deliberate application of the compositional surveillance data acquisition and analysis by the Prudhoe Bay Reservoir Management team will significantly impact the optimization of the vaporization process in the field.

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Section: Figure 1: Location Of Oil Fields On the North Slope Of Alaskamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Compositional Surveillance Program for Assessing Prudhoe Bay Vaporization Process

Jhaveri¹,

Steen²,

Connolly³

2014

All Days

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“…The relatively limited gas handling capacity reflected a larger water flood than was ultimately implemented and the expectation of early major gas sales, which did not materialize (Szabo & Meyers, 1993). Subsequently, the capacity of the Central Gas Processing facility was increased to 7.5 Bscf/d.…”

Section: Gas Cap Re-injectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These mechanisms account for the majority of production from Prudhoe Bay field (Szabo & Meyers, 1993).…”

Section: Gas Cap Re-injectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review of Gas Injection Projects in BP

2012

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BP has developed a range of innovative techniques to maximize economic oil recovery from its global miscible gas floods and the results have been reported in a series of publications over the past three decades. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of BP's experience of establishing, managing and optimizing a miscible gas flood.Prudhoe Bay (Alaska) is the world's largest miscible gas project. Conventional and unconventional methods have been applied in a variety of different settings. An extensive surveillance program has facilitated a good understanding of the processes operating at field scale and surveillance data are used to optimize the flood. In 2000, a large-scale gas cap water injection project was implemented to slow the decline in field pressure. This project has made the vaporization process more efficient at higher pressure, resulting in additional recovery. Miscible gas injection has been extended to numerous other fields on the North Slope of Alaska.BP has two active miscible gas projects in the North Sea: Magnus and Ula. Tertiary miscible water-alternating-gas (WAG) flooding in Magnus field started in 2002 and its impact on reservoir performance is significant and well understood. Tertiary miscible WAG injection in Ula field started in 1998 and has played a key role in arresting production decline. The WAG scheme in Ula is currently being expanded. In addition to these projects, BP operates a CO 2 injection and storage project at In Salah, Algeria, where more than 3.2 million tonnes of CO 2 have been stored since 2004.Miscible gas injection has generated considerable benefits for BP over the past three decades and will continue to do so. The potential availability of large sources of CO 2 in the future, supplied by carbon capture, could help maintain a leading role for miscible gas injection for years to come. IntroductionMiscible flooding is a proven method for enhancing oil recovery. The principle is to reduce the interfacial tension between the displacing solvent and displaced oil and thereby achieve a significant reduction in the residual oil saturation compared to immiscible water flooding and primary depletion. Under ideal conditions, miscible flooding can recover almost 100% of the oil originally in place. Under field conditions, this limit is seldom achieved owing to imperfect volumetric sweep, incomplete displacement of oil in rock that is swept and inadequate capture of displaced oil (Stalkup, 1983). In addition, commercial factors may limit the amount of miscible gas that is available. Despite these limitations, there are many successful miscible gas projects around the world and the prospects for miscible flooding in the future look bright if new sources of CO 2 become available for enhanced oil recovery.

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“…145 15 . Prudhoe Bay condensate and NGL production were allowed in excess of 1.5 million barrels per day.…”

Section: Exploration and Production Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

U.K. North Sea and Alaska North Slope: A Comparative Analysis of Petroleum Provinces

2006

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Prudhoe Bay: Development History and Future Potential

Cited by 23 publications

References 12 publications

Compositional Surveillance Program for Assessing Prudhoe Bay Vaporization Process

Compositional Surveillance Program for Assessing Prudhoe Bay Vaporization Process

Review of Gas Injection Projects in BP

U.K. North Sea and Alaska North Slope: A Comparative Analysis of Petroleum Provinces

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