operators seek more Prudhoe oil

Journal Article · Mon Jun 02 04:00:00 EDT 1975 · Oil Gas J.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6686765

The owners of the trans-Alaska pipeline are counting on the Prudhoe Bay field producing 600,000 bpd of crude by mid-1977 and 1.2 million by the end of 1977. However, they are building a pipeline capable of handling 2 million bpd. Simple economics demand that the costly line start operating at this capacity as quickly as possible. Can Prudhoe Bay make 2 million a day. Not yet, say the production engineers for the field. It can make 1.5 million, or 1.6 million, with an additional year's development. The order for this increase will be given just as soon as the owner companies are certain they have a market for the crude. A host of new drilling in and around the field is designed to uncover more reserves in the 3 best sands in and near the field--the Sadlerochit, which is the main producer, the Kuparuk River, which is younger and shallower than the Sadlerochit, and the Lisburne, which is older and deeper. By the time 1977 arrives, North Slope drillers expect to know if they have the reserves for an extra half-million barrels of daily production.

• OSTI ID: 6686765
• Journal Information: Oil Gas J.; (United States), Journal Name: Oil Gas J.; (United States) Vol. 73:22; ISSN OIGJA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020700* -- Petroleum-- Economics
Industrial
& Business Aspects
ALASKA OIL PIPELINE
ARCTIC OCEAN
BAYS
BEAUFORT SEA
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
MINERAL RESOURCES
OIL FIELDS
OIL WELLS
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
PIPELINES
PRODUCTIVITY
PRUDHOE BAY
RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
RESOURCES
SEAS
SURFACE WATERS
WELLS