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. The evolution of the integrated geobotanical and historical change mapping ighcm approach for documenting landscape change 19492010, prudhoe bay oil field, ak, usa. The prudhoe bay area mainly contains crude oil from the middle to upper triassic shublik formation, approximately 59% masterson, 2001. Jun 24, 2017 oil began flowing down the transalaska pipeline in 1977, transforming alaska into a wealthy state. Prudhoe bay has slipped behind two texas oilfield units that are at the forefront of the shaleoil revolution, according to the report, issued by the u. Prudhoe bay field an overview sciencedirect topics. The geological setting of prudhoe baynorth slope oil fields steven p.
Permotriassic reservoirs of prudhoe bay field, north. While prudhoe bay, the name of the largest oil field in north america, refers to the area in general. This data set provides a collection of maps of geoecological characteristics of areas within the beechey point quadrangle near prudhoe bay on the north slope of alaska. Oct 06, 2016 discovered in 1998, saudi arabias shaybah oil field is estimated to hold between 14 and 18 billion barrels of oil. Shale oil geologists alaska gamble could turn into americas next big shale play. American association of petroleum geologists atlas of oil and gas fields, american association of petroleum geologists treatise of petroleum geology. The geological setting of prudhoe bay north slope oil fields steven p.
Prudhoe bay field alaska colville trough ivishak formation triassic scythian fluviodeltaic braidedstream deposits. Other wildlife seen less frequently include polar bears, red fox, and musk oxen. Several publications relate the exploration process leading to the discovery of prudhoe bay field and its geologic characteristics morgridge and smith, jones and speers, jamison et al. The prudhoe bay field is a combination structural and stratigraphic hydrocarbon trap situated on the south flank of the barrow arch. Thus, they represent an unexplored frontier for shaleoil and shalegas resources. Permotriassic reservoirs of prudhoe bay field, north slope. The prudhoe bay field is the largest field in north america and the 18th largest field ever discovered worldwide. Prudhoe produces about half of the oil moving through taps. Discovery at prudhoe bay is the story behind the greatest north american oil discovery success ever the prudhoe bay discovery in alaska and the building of the trans alaska pipeline.
Geobotanical and impact map collection for prudhoe bay. Edrich bp alaska exploration san francisco, ca 94111 abstract the north slope is a prolific hydrocarbon province with 6070 billion reservoir barrels of oil and 3040 trillion cubic feet of gas in place discovered to date. Part of the casebooks in earth sciences book series casebooks. Petroleum plays and systems in the national petroleum reserve alaska pp. The kuparuk oil field is located on the alaskan arctic plain in the colville prudhoe basin, 10 to 30 mi 16 to 48 km west of the prudhoe bay field. Oil and gas development on alaskas north slope alaska division. Tom marshall, a key state employee tasked with selecting the 100 million acres, said the geology reminded him of big oil basins hed seen in wyoming. It is the largest oil field in both the united states and in north america, covering 2,543 acres 86,418 ha and originally containing approximately 25 billion barrels 4. Prudhoe bay oil field is a large oil field on alaskas north slope. It has twice as much recoverable oil as the next largest field in the united states, the east texas oil field. Stratigraphic oil and gas fieldsclassification, exploration methods, and case histories articlechapter.
Land accounts for about of the arctics area and is thought to hold about 16% of the arctics remaining undiscovered oil and gas resource. Due to the immense size, satellite fields are established within the field. The presence of major faults, the existence of large shale complexes, the enormous gas cap and associated coning of wells, and the heavy oiltar mat could cause, even if each existed separately, major. The two major oil producers in prudhoe bay are bp british petroleum and phillips formerly arco. The prudhoe bay field has more than 800 active oil producing wells. Permafrost thicknesses in the oliktok point, prudhoe bay. It is the largest oil field in north america, covering 2,543 acres 86,418 ha and originally containing approximately 25 billion barrels 4. Aug 02, 2016 geoscience training center cefoga magoon and dow, 1994 inventory of accumulationsinventory of accumulations field name date discovered reservoir rock api gravity api cumulative oil production x10 bbl remaining reserves x10 bbl hardy lucky marginal teapot 1989 1990 1990 1992 boar ss boar ss boar ss boar ss 29 15 18 21 85 5 12 9 big oil. Prudhoe bay oilfield, alaska north slope oil field descriptions. The usgs state the nations best opportunity for discovery of a prudhoe baysized new oilfield is in the coastal plain of the arctic national wildlife refuge. Some wildlife seen frequently in the prudhoe bay vicinity are. National oil and gas assessment project assessment of. Geobotanical and impact map collection for prudhoe bay oilfield, alaska. American association of petroleum geologists bulletin, v.
Recent approval of the construction of an oil pipeline from prudhoe bay to valdez has resulted in a marked increase in both drilling and construction activity in the field area. 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. Mineralogists and the alaska geological society, book 50, v. Map collection for prudhoe bay oilfield, alaska ornl. Regional dips would seem to preclude oil from the prudhoe bay area westward into the reserve. Temperature measurements through permafrost in the oil field at prudhoe bay, alaska, combined with laboratory measurements of the thermal conductivity of drill cuttings permit an evaluation of in situ thermal properties and an understanding of. The prudhoe bay field is the largest oil and gas field in north america with original reserves in place of over 22 billion stock tank barrels of oil. The surprise at prudhoe, however, was that bp was able to virtually halt the field decline while also laying off rigs during 2016, a consequence of low oil prices, said scott digert, bps eastern prudhoe bay reservoir manager.
The prudhoe bay oilfield is 250 miles north of the arctic circle, about 200 miles east of barrow and approximately 650 miles north of anchorage. Between 1996 and 2004, exploration and production operations in the sprawling prudhoe bay complex resulted in an. Integration of acquired data from the field together with stateoftheart static and dynamic modelling technology now allow operating the groningen system as. Geology and discovery of prudhoe bay field, eastern arctic slope, alaska. Prudhoe bay oil field is a large oil field covering an area of 2,543 acres 864. Prudhoe bay and its associated fields produce nearly 1 million barrels 42 million gallons per day. For each play of the 2002 npra assessment, the assessment geologist determined 1 the mostly. Sep 28, 2016 the operator of the largest oil field on the north slope is planning a big reduction in drilling activity this year because of low oil prices, a step that will lead to less oil production from the. Sedimentology and depositional environments of the ivishak. Arctic fox which are quite curious and seen nearly every day, brown grizzly bears, caribou, and a variety of birds, such as ravens and geese. Oil had been leaking for five days from a corroded pipeline between facilities at prudhoe bay when a worker driving a deserted stretch of road in the prudhoe bay oil field noticed a strong petroleum odor and stopped to investigate. The southern flank of the barrow arch dips gently 2, whereas the northern flank is much steeper. In 2003, iran discovered offshore oilfields which may.
Prudhoe bay oil field, alaska largest north american field more than 8 billion barrels recoverable barrow arch barrow arch sea levelsea level 10,00010,000 20,00020,000 30,00030,000 brooks range beaufort sea seal reservoir kitchen anticlinal trap 120f unconformityunconformity southsouth northnorth. Geology and discovery of prudhoe bay field, eastern arctic. A decade of exploratory geology and increasingly detailed geophysical surveys, mostly by sinclair and british petroleum in the early years, but then by a number of. The area has produced approximately 15 billion barrels 630 billion gallons of crude oil in its 25year history, or nearly onefifth of u. Prudhoe bay field is the largest producing field in north america. The operator of the largest oil field on the north slope is planning a big reduction in drilling activity this year because of low oil prices, a step. Compared to oil fields worldwide, prudhoe bay ranks in the top 20. Geoscience training center cefoga magoon and dow, 1994 inventory of accumulationsinventory of accumulations field name date discovered reservoir rock api gravity api cumulative oil production x10 bbl remaining reserves x10 bbl hardy lucky marginal teapot 1989 1990 1990 1992 boar ss boar ss boar ss boar ss 29 15 18 21 85 5 12 9 big oil.
The prudhoe bay fieldsadlerochit reservoir presents many complexities which make reservoir simulation of this large oil accumulation difficult. Geology of alaska north slope source rocks three source rocks were. The prudhoe bay field on the north slope of alaska is a fine example of a combination trap morgridge and smith, 1972. Integration of acquired data from the field together with stateoftheart static and dynamic modelling technology now allow operating the groningen system as a smart field, which requires only a.
Prudhoe bay and the alpine oilfield in northeast alaska. Presented at 12th circumpolar remote sensing symposium, levi, finland, may 1418, 2012. The prudhoe bay oil field is located in alaska on the north slope. Pdf on jan 1, 2003, tye and others published unique horizontalwell designs boost primary and eor production, prudhoe bay field, alaska find, read and. Temperature measurements through permafrost in the oil field at prudhoe bay, alaska, combined with laboratory measurements of the thermal conductivity of drill cuttings permit an evaluation of in situ thermal properties and an understanding of the general factors that control the geothermal regime. Prudhoe bay oil field simple english wikipedia, the free. The prudhoe bay oil field went into produc tion in 1977. Bp plans to sharply cut drilling in prudhoe bay anchorage. Of the 25 billion barrels of original oil in place, more than billion barrels can be recovered with current technology. Nrhp nomination for prudhoe bay oil field discovery. Permafrost, heat flow, and the geothermal regime at prudhoe. Known oil occurrences in npr4 are found in upper triassic, jurassic, and.
Triassic reservoir rocks found in the prudhoe bay oil field may be present on the southern flank of the niguanak high but are unlikely father north. The main permotriassic reservoir is a thick deltaic highquality sandstone deposit about 500 ft thick with porosities of 15 to 30% bv and permeabilities ranging from 50 to 3,000 md. This paper briefly describes the history of the field and some of the key developments that have taken place which have contributed to improved recovery efficiency. The 1002 coastal plain is but 2 miles from current production of the point thomson oil and gas field. But if it wasnt for one man, the prudhoe bay oil field may not have never been found. Pdf unique horizontalwell designs boost primary and eor. In 2003, iran discovered offshore oilfields which may contain about 31 billion. The prudhoe bay field, located on the north slope of alaska, is the largest oil and gas field in north america. Prudhoe bay also is the site of one of the largest waterflood and enhanced oil recovery projects in the world, as well as a large gas processing plant that processes more than 7 billion cubic feet per day bcfd of natural gas. Production from the prudhoe bay field, which contains the largest single accumulation of oil ever discovered in north america, is expected to commence in 1977. The discovery well for the prudhoe bay field, the largest oil accumulatn yet found in the united states, was drilled on the arctic coast of alaska by arco and exxon in 1968. Briefly, prudhoe bay field lies along the crest of the barrow arch, an eastwesttrending, cretaceous anticline formed by the northward thrusting of the brooks range. It is the largest oil field in both the united states and in north america. Additionally, oil from the hue shale and the kingak shale were added to create a mixture of oil types in the prudhoe bay field bird, 1994.
The prudhoe bay field has more than 800 active oilproducing wells. Map collection for prudhoe bay oilfield, alaska ornl daac news. This work has resulted in the prudhoe bay oil field in alaska, the tazovskoye field in russia and hundreds of smaller fields, many of which are on alaskas north slope. Oil began flowing down the transalaska pipeline in 1977, transforming alaska into a wealthy state. Geology of alaska north slope source rocks three source rocks were assessed. The field is located on the barrow arch, a major subsurface feature of the arctic slope province. These rocks may be erosionally truncated by the lower cretaceous unconformity, potentially forming a stratigraphic trap similar to the one in the prudhoe bay oil field. Pdf geology and regional setting of kuparuk oil field. Braidplain and deltaic reservoir, prudhoe bay field, alaska. The principal oil and gas accumulations at prudhoe bay field are in rocks of permotriassic age. Prudhoe bay oilfield, alaska north slope oil field. Basic geology for oil exploration linkedin slideshare.
For example, siderite scale deposition was considered as one of major mechanisms for the oil production decline in the prudhoe bay field 9. Cold regions science and technology, 11 1985 99105 99 elsevier science publishers b. Iron sulfide and iron oxide scales on production tubing and liner have interfered with downhole surveillance, limited well intervention, and reduced productivity in some high temperature sour gas wells. Author and geologist john sweet was a district explorationist with the company that made the discovery, and his book details and celebrates the colossal oil. Discovered in 1998, saudi arabias shaybah oil field is estimated to hold between 14 and 18 billion barrels of oil. It coverers 2,543 acres 86,418 ha and originally contained about 25 billion barrels 4. The kuparuk oil field is located on the alaskan arctic plain in the colvilleprudhoe basin, 10 to 30 mi 16 to 48 km west of the prudhoe bay field. Thus, they represent an unexplored frontier for shale oil and shalegas resources. Geologic setting of the alaska north slope usgs publications. The main reservoir in the field is the 450foot thick permotriassic ivishak formation, with the much thinner sag river formation forming a second reservoir. Prudhoe bay field was discovered on march 12, 1968, by arco and exxon with the drilling of the prudhoe bay state. Oil and natural gas resources map of the arctic ocean geology. Prudhoe bay is currently expected to yield at least 25% more reserves than estimated at field start up.
Prudhoe bay has slipped behind two texas oil field units that are at the forefront of the shale oil revolution, according to the report, issued by the u. Pdf geology and regional setting of kuparuk oil field, alaska. Braidplain and deltaic reservoir, prudhoe bay field. Joint geologicengineering analysis of the sadlerochit. Permafrost, heat flow, and the geothermal regime at. Petersen geophysical institute, university of alaska, fairbanks, alaska 99701 u.
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