Prudhoe Bay Oil Field
The Prudhoe Bay Oil Field or Prudhoe Bai Oil Field is an oil field , an approximately 1,500 to 3,000 meter deep oil deposit on the coast of the Arctic Ocean in Alaska . Commercial oil production in Prudhoe Bay began in the 1960s. Because of the location on the north coast of Alaska, the development was a particular challenge. The technical development of the entire oil field was carried out in 1968 by the Atlantic Richfield Company , but the transport of the oil was not yet secured. In the summer of 1969, the tanker Manhattan, converted into an icebreaker , was the first tanker to sail through the Northwest Passage . However, this was not a viable form of transport. Therefore, oil production did not start until 1977, when the Trans-Alaska Pipeline was completed by the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company . With a share of 26%, BP is the operator of the oil field. The production peaked at 2 million barrels / day in 1988, since then the production volume has been falling (below 1 million barrels / day in May 2005).
The estimated exploitable reserves in December 2005 were approximately 3 billion barrels. This means that production could continue for another 10 years at the current production rate. The Prudhoe Bay oil field is currently the largest oil reserve in the United States, more than twice the size of the second largest, the East Texas oil field .
In August 2019, BP and Hilcorp Alaska, a subsidiary of the Texan Hilcorp Energy Company , agreed to sell all of BP's business areas in Alaska. BP's stake in the Prudhoe Bay oil field is also part of the sales volume.
history
March 2006: Leak in the pipeline
On March 2, 2006, a BP Exploration (Alaska) employee discovered a major oil leak in western Prudhoe Bay. At least 267,000 gallons (approximately 1010.7 cubic meters) of oil leaked, making it the largest northern Alaska oil leak in history.
August 2006: Temporary closure of the pipeline
The March 2006 accident prompted the US Department of Transportation to request BP to inspect the pipes for corrosion using a so-called diagnostic pig. This inspection robot can run through the inside of the pipes and check the wall thickness of the pipes.
In the process, BP discovered some serious corrosion damage. As a result, the company announced on August 6, 2006 that a stretch of around 25.75 km of the pipeline in the bay would have to be replaced. On this route, the wall thickness lost up to 80% of the original 10 mm due to corrosion. BP was surprised to have found such severe corrosion. However, the company emphasized that regular corrosion controls had been carried out in coordination with the authorities. The pipes were regularly flushed with chemical agents for corrosion protection and examined by ultrasound . At BP it was assumed that these methods were suitable and sufficient. As it now turned out, this was not the case.
The company has therefore decided to close it temporarily. On August 11, BP announced that production would continue in the western part of the Prudhoe Bay oil field. This decision is based on new research results and was made in consultation with the state authorities. After BP resumed production in the eastern part of the oil field with approval from the US Department of Transportation at the end of September, the daily output in October 2006 was again more than 400,000 barrels. This is equivalent to production prior to August 6, 2006. Experts estimate the tax shortfall for the State of Alaska to be approximately $ 6.4 million per day.
Individual evidence
- ^ G. Thorwarth: Basic Geography Course: Pipeline through Alaska. In: Josef Brecht (Ed.): Friedrich-Koenig-Gymnasium Würzburg. Annual report 1976/77. Würzburg 1977, p. 66 f.
- ^ British Petroleum: BP to sell Alaska business to Hilcorp , accessed August 29, 2019.
Coordinates: 70 ° 18 '24.4 " N , 148 ° 43' 57.1" W.