W
hile Alaska and Canada may be the northern frontiers of the continent, both have a long and storied history of oil and gas exploration and development. As the challenges and opportunities of the new decade gain momentum, the regions are undergoing profound changes and adjustments.
Alaska Thanks to the discovery of the 25 billion bbl reservoir at Prudhoe Bay in the late 1960s, the state was exporting up to 2 million bpd from the North Slope via the Trans Alaska pipeline system (TAPS) throughout the 1980s. While production has ebbed over the last several decades to just under 500 000 bpd, exciting new discoveries give hope to the 77 000 Alaskans (one quarter of the population) who work in the oil and gas sector: In early 2021, 88 Energy announced an oil discovery at its Merlin 1 exploration well in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPRA). Based in initial information, the Australian-based company is projecting a potential 650 million bbl reserve. The target reservoir in the Nanushuk formation is at a depth of approximately 1800 m. Just north of the Merlin discovery, ConocoPhillips is planning on developing its Willow prospect, a 750 million bbl reservoir. The multi-billion dollar project is designed to produce 160 000 bpd, or 600 million bbl over 30 years, starting in the mid-2020s. July 2021 10 HYDROCARBON ENGINEERING
Recent drilling by Australia-based Oil Search has now increased reserves at its Pikka discover east of Merlin to 1 billion bbl, pushing the US$3 billion development closer to approval. Oil Search and partner Repsol plan to have the discovery online by 2026. Shell, which has an 81 000 acre lease in the shallow waters of the Beaufort Sea, received approval in late 2020 to explore the West Harrison Bay prospect, also located in the Nanushuk Formation. The plan calls for the drilling of two wells in the next five years. In late 2020, Hilcorp Energy finalised its US$5.6 billion acquisition of BP’s energy assets in Alaska. The deal included BP’s interest in the Prudhoe Bay field and TAPS. In February 2021, the company requested approval to drill two oil and gas exploration wells at its Whiskey Gulch prospect, located approximately 200 km southwest of Anchorage, on the south shore of Cook Inlet. Hilcorp already has several onshore gas wells, serviced by the ENSTAR natural gas line that runs down the peninsula. In early 2021, the Alaska Gasline Development Corp. (AGDC) announced it was seeking federal funding to build a natural gas pipeline from the North Slope to Fairbanks. The US$5.9 billion line would run approximately 800 km to central Alaska. The proposed line is part of a larger US$38.7 billion Alaska LNG project that would include a 1300 km line with a capacity of 3.3 billion ft3/d to transport gas to an LNG facility in Nikiski on the Kenai Peninsula. The plan is an effort to
