Federal Register, Volume 76, Number 149, August 3, 2011, Pages 46595-47054 Page: 47,015

Federal Register/Vol. 76, No. 149 /Wednesday, August 3, 2011 /Rules and Regulations

Kuparuk Industrial Center is primarily
used for personnel overflow during the
winter in years with a large amount of
construction.
Greater Point McIntyre
The Greater Point McIntyre Area
encompasses the Point McIntyre field
and nearby satellite fields of West
Beach, North Prudhoe Bay, Niakuk, and
Western Niakuk. The Point McIntyre
area is located 11.3 km (7 mi) north of
Prudhoe Bay. It was discovered in 1988
and came online in 1993. BPXA
produces the Point McIntyre area from
two drill site gravel pads. The field's
production peaked in 1996 at 170,000
barrels per day, whereas in 2006
production averaged 21,000 barrels per
day with just over 100 wells in
operation. Cumulative oil production as
of December 31, 2006, was 738 million
barrels of oil equivalent.
Milne Point
Located approximately 56 km (35 mi)
northwest of Prudhoe Bay, the Milne
Point oilfield was discovered in 1969
and began production in 1985. The field
consists of more than 220 wells drilled
from 12 gravel pads. Milne Point
produces from three main fields:
Kuparuk, Schrader Bluff, and Sag River.
Cumulative oil production as of
December 31, 2006, was 248 million
barrels of oil equivalent. The total area
of Milne Point and its satellites is 94.4
hectares (236 acres) of tundra, including
31 km (19 mi) of gravel roads, 64 km (40
mi) of pipelines, and one gravel mine
site. The Milne Point Operations Center
has accommodations for up to 300
people. It is estimated that the Ugnu
reservoir contains roughly 20 billion
barrels of heavy oil in place. BPXA's
reservoir scientists and engineers
conservatively estimate that roughly 10
percent of that resource, or 2 billion
barrels, could be recoverable. Currently,
cold heavy oil production with sand
(CHOPS) technology is being tested at
Milne South Pad. CHOPS is part of a
multiyear technology testing and
research program initiated at Milne
Point in 2007.
Endicott
The Endicott oilfield is located
approximately 16 km (10 mi) northeast
of Prudhoe Bay. It is the first
continuously producing offshore field in
the U.S. arctic. The Endicott oilfield was
developed from two manmade gravel
islands connected to the mainland by a
gravel causeway. The operations center
and processing facilities are located on
the 18-hectare (45-acre) Main
Production Island. Approximately 80

wells have been drilled to develop the

field. Two satellite fields drilled from
Endicott's Main Production Island
access oil from the Ivishak formation:
Eider produces about 110 barrels per
day, and Sag Delta North produces
about 117 barrels per day. The total area
of Endicott development is 156.8
hectares (392 acres) of land with 25 km
(15 mi) of roads, 47 km (29 mi) of
pipelines, and one gravel mine site.
Approximately 100 people are housed at
the Endicott Operations Center.
Badami
Production began from the Badami
oilfield in 1998, but has not been
continuous. The Badami field is located
approximately 56 km (35 mi) east of
Prudhoe Bay and is currently the most
easterly oilfield development on the
North Slope. The Badami development
area is approximately 34 hectares (85
acres) of tundra including 7 km (4.5 mi)
of gravel roads, 56 km (35 mi) of
pipeline, one gravel mine site, and two
gravel pads with a total of eight wells.
There is no permanent road connection
from Badami to Prudhoe Bay. The
pipeline connecting the Badami oilfield
to the common carrier pipeline system
at Endicott was built from an ice road.
The cumulative production is five
million barrels of oil equivalent. This
field is currently in "warm storage"
status, i.e., site personnel are minimized
and the facility is maintained at a
minimal level. Additionally, it currently
is not producing oil reserves at this
time. BPXA recently entered into an
agreement with Savant LLC; under this
agreement Savant will drill an
exploration well in the winter of 2009
and potentially add an additional well
in 2010. Depending on the outcome of
these drilling programs, Badami could
resume production.
Alpine
Discovered in 1996, the Alpine
oilfield began production in November
2000. Alpine is the westernmost oilfield
on the North Slope, located 50 km (31
mi) west of the Kuparuk oilfield and 14
km (9 mi) northeast of the village of
Nuiqsut. Although the Alpine reservoir
covers 50,264 hectares (124,204 acres),
it has been developed from 65.9
hectares (162.92 acres) of pads and
associated roads. Alpine features a
combined production pad/drill site and
three additional drill sites with an
estimated 172 wells. There is no
permanent road connecting Alpine with
the Kuparuk oilfield; small aircraft are
used to provide supplies and crew
changeovers. Major resupply activities
occur in the winter, using the ice road

that is constructed annually between the

two fields. The Alpine base camp can
house approximately 540 employees.
Northstar
The Northstar oilfield was discovered
in 1983 and developed by BPXA in
1995. The offshore oilfield is located 6
km (4 mi) northwest of the Point
McIntyre field and 10 km (6 mi) from
Prudhoe Bay in about 39 feet of water.
The 15,360-hectare (38,400-acre)
reservoir has now been developed from
a 2-hectare (5-acre) artificial island.
Production from the Northstar reservoir
began in late 2001. The 2-hectare (5-
acre) island will eventually contain 19
producing wells, six gas injector wells,
and one solids injection well. A subsea
pipeline connects facilities to the
Prudhoe Bay oilfield. Access to
Northstar is via helicopter, hovercraft,
and boat.
Oooguruk Unit
The Oooguruk Unit is located
adjacent to and immediately northwest
of the Kuparuk River Unit in shallow
waters of the Beaufort Sea, near Thetis
Island. Unit production began in 2008.
Facilities include an offshore drill site
and onshore production facilities pad.
In addition, a subsea 5.7-mile flowline
transports produced fluids from the
offshore drill site to shore, where it
transitions to an aboveground flowline
supported on vertical support members
for 3.9 km (2.4 mi) to the onshore
facilities for approximately 3.3 hectares
(8.2 acres). The offshore drill site (2.4
hectares, 6 acres) is planned to support
48 wells drilled from the Nuiqsut and
Kuparuk reservoirs. The wells are
contained in well bay modules, with
capacity for an additional 12 wells, if
needed. Pioneer is additionally
proposing production facilities west of
KRU drill site 3S on State oil and gas
leases. The contemplated facilities
consist of two drill sites near the
Colville River delta mouth, a tie-in pad
adjacent to DS-3S, gravel roads, flow
lines, and power lines. Drilling of the
initial appraisal well is planned to start
in 2013, with first oil production as
early as 2015.
During the time period of the previous
ITRs (2006-2011), three development
projects were described as possibly
moving into the production phase.
Currently, only Oooguruk is producing.
The two other developments,
Nikaitchuq and the Alpine West
Development, have not begun to
produce oil to their fullest capacity.
Concurrently, there are two additional
developments that could be producing
oil during the regulatory period. They
are the Liberty and North Shore

developments.

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