Development of petroleum reserves in Arctic Alaska: A brief discussion

Abstract

The development of petroleum reserves in arctic Alaska is reviewed. This review includes development activities from the year 1969, immediately following the discovery of Prudhoe Bay Oil Field, through to the present activities of the Kuparuk Oil Field. Primary and secondary recovery efforts are summarized. Probable methods for developing reserves found beneath the coastal waters of North slope Alaska are described. Fiscal and technical aspects are presented. Predicted and actual economics are compared. Several technical problems which are related uniquely to the arctic environment are discribed. The research, testing and design efforts expended to determine design solutions are described briefly. These problems include thaw-movement of permafrost adjacent to production wells, settlement of piling in permafrost due to creep under sustained loading, marine transport of supplies and facilities from the contiguous 48 states and orient through the often ice covered waters offshore western and northern Alaska, low radiation large capacity flares over the thermal sensitive permafrost, and social and emotional health of a large work force under harsh confining arctic conditions. The basic objective of this paper is to communicate the complexity and uniqueness of petroleum development in the Arctic. An exhaustive technical and fiscal treatment is not intended.