Heavy Oil Project Briefing
Chops stands for “cold heavy oil production with sand.”
Using the CHOPS technology for the first time in Alaska, the well brought oil and sand to the surface reliably and sustainably. CHOPS stands for “cold heavy oil production with sand.”
Part of the 2008 test was to determine if the artificial lift system – a progressive cavity pump, driven from the surface – could pull sand in from the reservoir. That would create a network of channels or “wormholes” extending out from the well bore, to help the thick oil flow toward the well.
This clearly worked. Production at the test site peaked at about 120 barrels a day of a sand/oil mixture. The mixture was heated onsite, helping the sand to settle out. Heavy oil from the test – API gravity 10, the consistency of molasses – was processed at the BP-operated Milne Point facility and shipped down the TransAlaska Pipeline.
With the success, BP is moving into the next phase of the project. The company plans to build and install a permanent test facility in 2009, fabricating truckable modules that will be shipped to Milne Point for assembly.
BP plans several additional heavy oil wells at that location, including CHOPS wells and horizontal wells in 2009. The horizontal wells will incorporate screened production tubing, similar to what is now used to produce moderately thick, viscous oil wells on the North Slope.
“BP’s focus is currently on Milne Point, where technical experts think that cold production technologies work best,” said Max Easley, BP Alaska’s senior vice president and business unit leader, Alaska Consolidated Team.
“Most heavy oil technologies have required years to mature and prove,” Easley said. “But we are aggressively pushing this resource to further underpin Alaska’s 50-year strategy.”
The project cost will exceed $100 million.
“While the company is making a large financial commitment to test these technologies, it recognizes the huge prize that could be realized. Heavy oil has and will continue to generate a lot of attention in Alaska and across the entire E&P segment, and this first success is quite encouraging as we continue this effort,” Easley said.
BP conservatively estimates that 2 billion barrels of heavy oil may be recoverable using existing cold and thermal technologies, from the Schrader Bluff/West Sak and Ugnu reservoirs on the North Slope.
Steve Rinehart, BP press office,
Anchorage, Alaska
907-564-5668 907-223-4765
rinesc@bp.com
