Field lab on Alaska’s North Slope will validate polymer floods for heavy oil EOR

摘要

The University of Alaska Fairbanks has partnered with the Missouri University of Science and Technology,the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology,the University of North Dakota,and Hilcorp Alaska LLC,to validate polymer flood technology and its application for heavy oil enhanced oil recovery(EOR)on Alaska’s North Slope(ANS).The project is supported by a $7-million investment from the U.S.Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory(NETL).Figure 1 provides the overall depiction of the project area,Milne Point Unit(MPU),which is nestled between the Prud-hoe Bay Unit(PBU)and ICuparuk River Unit(KRU),respectively.The MPU is about 30 miles to the northwest of PBU and about 15 miles northeast of KRU,encompassing 50,000 acres that contain 250 wells on 12 pads.Development began in 1985,with cumulative production,to date,totaling 353 MMbbl of oil,including 267 MMbbl of light oil and 86 MMbbl of heavy oil.Current production stands at 30,000 bopd.