Ready, set, sealift! BP's Liberty Project gears up.

• Author: Komancheck, Wendy
• Position: OIL & GAS

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The long-awaited BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. Liberty Project is getting ready to be sea-lifted to its home on Endicott Satellite Drilling Island off shore of the North Slope. This mammoth oil field project has been in the works for over 10 years. North Slope residents, as well as the rest of Alaska, are looking forward to its arrival for many reasons.

THE HISTORY

In 1997, the exploration team named the original project "Liberty." The first part of the decade-plus project is expected to arrive on the North Slope by the end of the summer. "We expect the special super-capable drilling rig, being built by Parker Drilling on the West Coast, to arrive by barge on the North Slope in early August, although the timing can vary depending on weather conditions," Steve Rinehart, of BP Alaska, says.

According to BP literature, the Liberty Project will drill into a "new 100-million-barrel reservoir." The project will also set new standards for Arctic field development by minimizing onshore and offshore development footprints, where there is less physical space disturbed or occupied. The Liberty team will use an existing framework on the BP-owned Endicott oil field that's been in production since 1987.

Liberty will be using the latest drilling technology to reach record distances by extending its reach to five or six wells. Oil well production, using these long arm wells, removes the need to construct a new drilling island or to create a new subsea pipeline. Instead, the Liberty Project will use the existing Endicott Satellite Drilling Island and extend its reach into 20 feet of water off the Beaufort Sea's barrier islands. These barrier islands protect the oil facility from moving ice and ocean waves.

Indeed, this "extended reach drilling," is new technology that allows horizontal departure, defined as "the distance drilled from the initial well bore," that will reach reservoir targets five, six, and up to eight miles out and two miles into the intended oil field. In addition, this new technology allows drillers to precisely plot a good path for the well and to steer the drill bit accurately into oil and gas reservoirs.

Liberty will be using ultra-extended reach, horizontal, and multilateral drilling. These new techniques benefit the environment; allow multiple wells to be drilled with a single well bore; increase oil production; reduce costs; and allow the continued use of existing facilities, among other advantages.

"Liberty...