Volume 46 Number 7 March 2016 Page 1

Prudhoe Bay Reservoir Development Optimization

Scott Digert BP Alaska, Anchorage, AK

scott.digert@bp.com

The Prudhoe Bay Field is the largest field in North America, and is the cornerstone of the 22 oil and gas fields which have been developed on Alaska’s North Slope. It has been developed using five major depletion mechanisms. Technologies developed and implemented at Prudhoe Bay have yielded 30% more recovery to date than the original expectation of ultimate recovery. As the remaining light oil column is drawn down, BP and the other Working Interest Owners are finding and implementing drilling options to exploit the current play types. Examples of recent wells drilled into Far Upstructure Romeo, Sub-HOT, Waterflood Pattern Rotation, and Sag River Proof of Con-cept play types are presented. The increasing dominance of gas production both in the reservoir and in the surface facilities is shown, and the potential impact of major gas sales on ultimate hy-drocarbon recovery is illustrated.

AGS Luncheon Date & Time: Tuesday, March 15th, 11:30 am – 1:00 pm

Program: Prudhoe Bay Reservoir Development Optimization

Speaker: Scott Digert, BP Alaska, Anchorage, AK

Place: BP Energy Center, 1014 Energy Court, Anchorage, AK

Reservations: Make your reservation before noon Friday, March 11th, 2016

Cost: Seminar only, no meal: Free Lunch with reservation: $15 Lunch with no reservation On an “as-available” basis

For more information call (907) 854-2363 or visit the AGS website: http://www.alaskageology.org

 

Volume 46 Number 7 March 2016 Page 2

About the Speaker: Scott Digert holds degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Colorado in Boulder and Petroleum Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines. He joined ARCO in 1985 and worked as a reservoir engineer and subsurface development team leader in the Rockies, Alaska, California, and the North Sea. He joined BP in 2000 as part of the ARCO merger, and has worked in Alaska since then in roles dealing with LNG business development, the proposed large scale gas pipeline to Chicago, viscous and heavy oil development, and field development in Milne Point and Prudhoe Bay. He is currently the Reservoir Management and Greater Prudhoe Bay East Area reservoir development manager, responsible for full field development planning and development activities in the East side of GPB.

From the President’s Desk:

I want to remind AGS members that there will not be a scheduled April meeting in Anchorage. The April speaker will instead present in Fairbanks as part of the AGS Tech Fest at UAF on April 22nd. The annual Tech Fest has in the past been an excellent time to interact with University of Alaska students and faculty and a time to reconnect with colleagues and friends that you may not see that often.

The AGS Board is excited that in May 2017, AGS will once again host the Pacific Section AAPG (PSAAPG) regional conference in Anchorage. The 2017 meeting is expected to provide opportunities over several days to hear talks, take short courses, view poster displays, see vendor booths and participate in geology field trips.

The last time the Pacific Section AAPG regional meeting was held in Anchorage was in 2011 and before that in 2006 and 2002. Planning for the conference is progressing and folks who want to be part of making the conference a success are stepping forward. Longtime AGS member Beverly Burns has volunteered to Chair the Technical Program and several others have stepped forward to steer key committees.

Your AGS convention committee will be working hard to make this conference a success. That said, there is still room to volunteer. I encourage you to get involved!

This month’s AGS luncheon is on March 15th. Ballots will be available at the meeting to allow members to vote on 2016-2017 board and officer positions. The March meeting will host Scott Digert of BP who will speak on Prudhoe Bay.

I look forward to seeing you at the luncheon!

Best regards, ~ Monte Mabry 

 

Volume 46 Number 7 March 2016 Page 3

2015 AGS scholarship recipient:

Olivia Anderson, Western Washington University, MS Petrology of a large bimodal eruption: A case study of Shishaldin volcano, central Aleutian arc, Alaska

Bimodal volcanism is not common for a typical Strombolian-type volcano, such as Shishaldin volcano on

Unimak Island in the Aleutian Arc. The Shishaldin caldera-forming eruption (CFE) is unusual for Shishal-

din in that it erupts both basaltic andesite and rhyodacite. There is one known location of the Shishaldin

CFE deposits. The other sample locations are not certainly known to be from the Shishaldin CFE and

may be from the Fisher CFE, which is the CFE of the neighboring volcano. My goals are to differentiate

between the Fisher and Shishaldin CFE samples, estimate the pre-eruptive magma storage conditions

for the two magmas, and constrain the degree of open system processes that led to the formation of the

rhyodacite. In order to accomplish these goals, I plan to: (1) characterize the samples using petrography

and microanalytical techniques, (2) obtain major element and oxygen isotope chemistry to constrain the

pre-eruptive conditions, and (3) obtain single-crystal oxygen isotope chemistry to constrain the origin of

the rhyodacite. Petrographic and scanning electron microscopic work has been ongoing. Both the rhy-

odacite and basaltic andesite contain plagioclase as the main phenocryst phase with pyroxenes and Fe-

Ti oxides, which are mainly ulvospinel. However, both of the samples contain <5% phenocrysts. Electron

microprobe data show that the pyroxenes are in equilibrium with the glass, but few were analyzed, so I

will analyze more pyroxenes. Dr. Pete Stelling collected more samples for this study in 2015 and the thin

sections of the new samples will arrive soon. Preliminary results show that the Fisher and Shishaldin

CFEs may be distinguished by plagioclase trace element chemistry, but laser inductively coupled plas-

ma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) is ongoing work as I need to obtain more analyses of plagioclase,

pyroxenes, and glass. Oxygen isotope chemistry will likely be essential in distinguishing Fisher and

Shishaldin magmas. The funds from AGS will go toward these oxygen isotope analyses of plagioclase,

pyroxenes, and glass. These analyses will also help determine pre-eruptive temperature since two-oxide

thermobarometry is uncertain to be useful.

2105 Alaska Geological Society Scholarships 2015 Don Richter Memorial Scholarship

The following is a project update from a recent recipient of an Alaska Geological Society Scholarship.

Membership Note

Membership renewal is November 1; annual dues are: Full members - $25; Students - $5

 

Volume 46 Number 7 March 2016 Page 4

 

Volume 46 Number 7 March 2016 Page 5

Calendar of Events

 

Date  Time  Organization  Event  Location 

March 9th   11:30  AMA  AMA luncheon meeting  Millennium Lakefront Hotel, Anchorage 

March 10th  11:30  GSA  Kyle Brennan, Shannon & Wilson, Inc.  USGS Glenn Olds Hall, Anchorage 

March 12 – 15 

  IASCl  Arctic Science Summit Week  UAF Fairbanks 

March 15th   11:30  AGS  AGS luncheon, Scott Digert, BP Exploration “”  BP Energy Center, Anchorage 

April 4 – 9    AMA  2016 Biennial Alaska Miners Association Convention  

Carlson Conference Center, Fairbanks 

April 5th  12:00  AIPG  AIPG luncheon Fire and Ice in the Aleutian Arc: The Science of Volcano-Ice Interactions During Eruptive Activity in Alaska Dr. Chris Waythomas 

DOWL, Anchorage 

April 13th   11:30  AMA  AMA luncheon meeting  Millennium Lakefront Hotel, Anchorage 

April 22nd  8:00 – 4:00 

AGS  AGS Technical Conference  UAF, Fairbanks 

May 17th  11:30  AGS  AGS luncheon Dr. Rob Witter, USGS, Anchor-age “Ancient Tsunami Deposits and Modern Seismic Hazards – Southern Alaska Margin”.  

BP Energy Center, Anchorage 

May 23rd – 26th  

  SPE  Society of Petroleum Engineers – Western Re-gional Meeting “Conventional Challenges Unconventional solutions” 

Sheraton Hotel, Anchorage 

My Pet Rock Kenneth P. Helmold Alaska Division of Oil & Gas

Photomicrograph of fine-grained volcan-iclastic sandstone from the Middle Ju-rassic Red Glacier Formation (Tuxedni Group). Rock consists largely of sub-rounded volcanic rock fragments (vrf) with minor plagioclase and accessory quartz. Intergranular pores are lined by iron-stained corrensite (arrows) and filled with heulandite (h). Heulandite is the by-product of extensive alteration of the volcanic detritus. Due to extensive compaction and zeolite cementation the rock has poor reservoir quality (7.0% ϕ; 1.22 md K). Sample is from measured section along ridge 6.4 km northeast of Johnson Glacier on the western side of Cook Inlet.

Send me a photo of your pet rock!

 

Volume 46 Number 7 March 2016 Page 6

PRA

3601 C Street, Suite 822

Anchorage, AK 99503

The Alaska Geological Society, Inc.

P.O. Box 101288

Anchorage AK 99510

On the web at: h p://www.alaskageology.org

The Alaska Geological Society is an organiza on which seeks to promote inter-est in and understanding of Geology and the related Earth Sciences, and to provide a common organiza on for those individuals interested in geology and the related Earth Sciences. 

This newsle er is the monthly (September-May) publica on of the Alaska Geological Society, Inc. Number of newsle ers/month: ~300 

EDITOR Ken Helmold 

Alaska Geological Society, Inc. P. O. Box 101288 

Anchorage, AK 99510 e-mail: ken.helmold@alaska.gov 

(907) 269-8673 (office) 

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

AGS annual memberships expire November 1. The annual membership fee is $25/year ($5 for students). You may download a membership applica on from the AGS website and return it at a luncheon mee ng, or mail it to the address above. 

Contact membership coordinator Ken Helmold with changes or updates  (e-mail: ken.helmold at alaska.gov; phone: 907-269-8673) 

All AGS publica ons are now available for on-line purchase on our website. Check to see the complete catalogue: 

h p://www.alaskageology.org/publica ons 

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Volume 46 Number 7 March 2016 Page 7

2015 ‐ 2016 Alaska Geological Society Board

Commi ees and Delegates

Title Name Phone e-mail Affiliation President Monte Mabry 564-4028 monte.mabry at bp.com BP Past-President Keith Torrance 677-8257 keith.torrance at uicumiaq.com UMIAQ President-Elect Chad Hults 332-0740 chadcph at gmail.com NPS Vice-President Steve Wright 854 2363 vp at alaskageology.org AK DOG Treasurer Heather Heusser 947-9010 heather.heusser at alaska.gov AK DOG Secretary Dave Buthman 344-6001 dbuthman at hilcorp.com Hilcorp. Director 15-2017 Jennifer Crews 263-4516 jennifer.r.crews at conocophillips.com ConocoPhillips Director 15-2017 Jamey Jones 786-7442 jvjones at usgs.gov USGS Director 15-2017 Mick Bradway brad8450 at yahoo.com Director 14-2016 Al Hunter 947-9010 paleoman at mac.com Chevron (retired) Director 14-2016 Karri Sicard 451-5040 karri.sicard at alaska.gov AK DGGS Director 14-2016 Kirk Sherwood 334-5337 sherwook at mtaonline.net

AAPG Delegate Marwan Wartes 451-5056 marwan.wartes at alaska.gov AK DGGS Advertising Keith Torrance 677-8257 keith.torrance at uicumiaq.com UMIAQ

Com. Ed./Science Fair Jana DaSilva Lage 980-9368 jldasilva5 at hotmail.com APICC Field Trips Chad Hults 332-0740 chadcph at gmail.com NPS Bylaws Sue Karl 786-7428 skarl at usgs.gov USGS Memberships Kirk Sherwood 334-5337 sherwook at mtaonline.net Newsletter Editor Ken Helmold 269-8673 ken.helmold at alaska.gov AK DOG Publications Mick Bradway brad8450 at yahoo.com Scholarship Sue Karl 786-7428 skarl at usgs.gov USGS Website Jan Hazen homesteadgraphics@gmail.com Consultant Fundraising Sunny Foster 269-7569 sunny.foster at alaska.gov AK DEC

Title Name Phone e-mail Affiliation