Alaska

Alaska first ExxonMobil ice-resistant offshore platform

Granite Point field, located in Alaska’s Cook Inlet, began production less than two years after ExxonMobil discovered it in 1965. Development and drilling challenges included first-year ice — ice having experienced less than one year’s growth — along with earthquakes, high tidal range and strong currents. The Granite Point platform, installed in 1966, was the first ExxonMobil installation of an offshore, ice-resistant platform and is still producing after more than 40 years of successful operation.

Technologies for an Arctic mega-field

On March 13, 1968, ExxonMobil and ARCO (Atlantic Richfield Company) announced the discovery of the Prudhoe Bay field, the largest oil reservoir in North America (estimated in-place resource of 4 billion tons or 25 billion oil-equivalent barrels). The field is located on Alaska’s North Slope, 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of the Arctic Circle.

Oil transport is one of the key challenges associated with commercializing a remote field such as Prudhoe Bay, with peak production of 115 million tons of oil per year (2 million barrels per day). To explore the feasibility of an Arctic marine transportation system, ExxonMobil led the world’s first demonstration voyage of a commercial tanker, the SS Manhattan, through the Northwest Passage in the summer of 1969. In 1972, the Offshore Technology Conference recognized our contribution to marine history and technology as a result of this voyage.

A pipeline system, made possible by integrating aerospace technology, was ultimately determined to be more effective for Prudhoe Bay oil transport. In 1975, construction began on the Trans- Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS). Challenges associated with the operation of a warm pipeline in thaw- unstable permafrost were solved by elevating the pipe above ground and using pipes to transfer heat from below ground to the air in winter. In 1990, ExxonMobil’s heat pipe work was recognized by the United States Space Foundation with an Outstanding Achievement Award  for civilian applications of NASA technology. Where the TAPS route crossed unfrozen soil or thaw-stable permafrost, the pipeline was buried.

ExxonMobil enhanced oil recovery technologies, including tailored well-stimulation programs, full-field reservoir simulation and special core analysis capabilities, have been critical to increasing Prudhoe Bayreserves by approximately 30 percent over initial estimates. ExxonMobil continues to assess opportunities for additional recovery improvements at Prudhoe Bay today.