North Slope heavy oil production

A recent article on Alaskan North Slope heavy oil research and operations.

The recent Alaska Journal of Commerce article Producers roll up their sleeves to tackle heavy oil, does a nice job summarizing the challenges and successes of Alaska's North Slope producers in developing and producing heavy oil from the Ugnu, West Sak, and  Schrader Bluff formations. The article points out that while only a small portion of the current estimated heavy oil reserves are recoverable with current technology, the operations are still economically viable at current prices using combinations of CSS and SAGD. Some of the Ugnu heavy oil reserves, for example, are frozen into lower reaches of the permafrost and may never be economically recovered.

The ability for North Slope producers to economically drill and produce these heavy oil reserves has been made possible in part through extensive research and technology development combined with favorable economics.

Kambiz.