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Producing Light Oil from a Frozen Reservoir: Reservoir and Fluid Characterization of Umiat Field, National Petroleum Reserve, Alaska (DE-FC26-08NT0005641)

The objective of this project is to develop a robust geologic and engineering model for evaluating production methods for the Umiat field to provide important information on production methods for this and similar frozen reservoirs in northern Alaska and other arctic regions.

The Umiat oil field contains light oil in a shallow, frozen reservoir in the Brooks Range foothills of northern Alaska. The Umiat field was discovered in the 1940's but it was never considered viable because it is shallow, in the permafrost, relatively small and far from any transportation infrastructure. Initial estimates of recoverable reserves in the Umiat field ranged from 30 to over 100 million bbl, with an average of about 70 million bbl (Baptist, 1960). However, recent reserve estimates by private industry suggests that the accumulation may be considerably larger than originally thought, and modern horizontal drilling techniques enable development of a shallow reservoir. This makes Umiat and similar fields in northern Alaska attractive exploration and production targets. However, little is known about how to produce conventional oil from a frozen reservoir. Most prior work has been on production techniques for heavy oil in unconsolidated but unfrozen sands, or on gas hydrates. There is no information on the behavior of a rock/ice/light oil system at low pressures. This information along with a robust reservoir model is needed to accurately model and evaluate the effectiveness of different production methods.

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
ISO Topics economy, geoscientificInformation
Primary Contact Catherine Hanks (chanks@gi.alaska.edu)
Other Contacts Catherine Hanks (Email: chanks@gi.alaska.edu), Chandra Nautiyal (Email: Chandra.Nautiyal@netl.doe.gov)
Primary Organization US Department of Energy
Other Organizations University of Alaska Fairbanks
Organization Types Academic, Federal
Geo-keywords Alaska, North Slope
Start Date 2008-10-01
Created February 23, 2016, 01:51 (AKST)
Last Updated September 28, 2021, 14:07 (AKDT)