Prudhoe Bay oil field
| Prudhoe Bay oil field | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Country | United States |
| Region | Alaska North Slope |
| Offshore/onshore | onshore |
| Coordinates | 70°18′24″N 148°43′57″W / 70.30667°N 148.73250°WCoordinates: 70°18′24″N 148°43′57″W / 70.30667°N 148.73250°W |
| Operator | BP |
| Partners | BP, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips Alaska |
| Field history | |
| Discovery | March 12, 1968 by ARCO and Exxon's Prudhoe Bay State #1 well |
| Start of production | June 20, 1977 |
| Peak of production | 1.5 million barrels per day (240,000 m3/d) |
| Peak year | 1988 |
| Production | |
| Current production of oil | 281,000 barrels per day (~1.40×107 t/a) |
| Year of current production of oil | 2015 |
| Estimated oil in place | 25,000 million barrels (~3.4×109 t) |
| Estimated gas in place | 46,500×109 cu ft (1,320×109 m3) |
| Producing formations | Sadlerochit |
Prudhoe Bay Oil Field is a large oil field on Alaska's North Slope. It is the largest oil field in both the United States and in North America, covering 213,543 acres (86,418 ha) and originally containing 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, the East Texas oil field. The field is operated by BP; partners are ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips Alaska.
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 1,200 miles (1,900 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.
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.
Commercial oil exploration started in Prudhoe Bay area in the 1960s and the field was discovered 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.
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Wikipedia