By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Feb. 20 -- BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., in collaboration with the US Department of Energy and the US Geological Survey, has drilled a well on the Alaskan North Slope to assess the potential of gas hydrates as a long-term nonconventional energy source.
The well is 1.4 miles south of the Milne B-pad in Milne Point oil field northwest of BP's Prudhoe Bay oil field.
Drilled to 3,000 ft, the stratigraphic test well intersected the Sagavanirktok formation on the Mt. Elbert prospect, which was identified by seismic data, well, and reservoir modeling studies.
About 430 ft of 3-in. hydrate cores were collected. The core segments were initially subsampled and analyzed on site due to the time and temperature-dependent data requirements. They will be shipped to Anchorage for temporary storage before being distributed to gas hydrate researchers around the country.
Subsequent data collection and analysis will continue for several months, after which a report will be published, BP said.
The well provided a stratigraphic test of interpreted gas hydrate accumulations from Milne seismic and well data. Core, wireline logs, and wireline downhole testing will help assess gas hydrate-bearing sediment, shallow reservoirs, and fluid properties.
The project resulted in the first significant collection of gas hydrate-bearing cores in Alaska, and the first delineation of a seismically-defined gas hydrate prospect in Alaska.
Production tests and other future developments of the Milne test well will be determined jointly with DOE, which funded the estimated $4.6 million drilling cost.
