A focus on the future
BP is focusing its investments in Alaska on the renewal of our
North Slope infrastructure, renewal of our workforce and the advancement of technology to develop known resources.
Renewal of North Slope infrastructure
It has been 30 years since the North Slope began production. Originally built for a 25-year life, massive amounts of new investment will be required for the future.
An important component of BP’s investment in North Slope’s infrastructure is the $260 million oil transit line replacement project. This includes the installation of 16 miles of new transit lines on the North Slope, 1,200 vertical support members to hold the pipe off the tundra, pigging modules,
corrosion-inhibitor injection facilities, and a state of-
the-art leak detection system. Installation of the new lines is expected to be completed during the winter construction season.
Exploring for known resources
The cornerstone of BP’s efforts on the North Slope is the development of the vast resources that have already been discovered. Yet there are significant challenges to developing these resources.
BP is pioneering a number of enhanced oil recovery techniques. Currently, the worldwide recovery factor for conventional oil reservoirs is around 35 percent of oil in place. In Alaska, we and our partners are raising our recovery rate to around 60 percent by applying new technologies such as horizontal drilling, miscible gas injection and gas cap water injection.
While heavier oil accounts for 5 percent of Alaska’s oil production today, that figure is expected to double over the next several years.
Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline
Another area with significant potential to address America’s energy needs involves natural gas from the North Slope of Alaska.
The development of a gas pipeline is important to Alaska and to the rest of the country. Alaska’s North Slope gas represents the largest known undeveloped gas resource in the United States. BP has been working over the past several years on ways to advance a natural gas pipeline project from Alaska’s North Slope to bring this gas to markets in North America.
Commitment to Alaska workforce development
BP has increased its staffing in Alaska by 40 percent in the last two years to nearly 2,000 employees. This is the largest workforce BP has ever employed in Alaska. In addition, BP has added 2,500 to its contractor workforce in Alaska over the same period.
BP also has made significant investments in addressing Alaska’s overall workforce development needs. BP, for example, helped found the Alaska Process Industries Careers Consortium and has been instrumental in the formation of University of Alaska.
