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Producers 2024: The Barrow gas field remain a reliable source of local fuel
Last major investment at Utqiaġvik-area gas fields came in 2011.
The Barrow gas fields are a local resource for local use.
The federal government discovered the field as part of a sporadic post-war exploration campaign in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska to improve domestic energy security
Big, but not big enough to justify the massive cost of transport back to the grid, the fields were just the right size for the nearby city of Utqiaġvik. Under the operatorship of the North Slope Borough, the three Barrow gas fields -- South Barrow, East Barrow and Walakpa--have provided affordable and predictable energy for Utqiaġvik for decades.
The biggest intervention at the Barrow gas field came in 2011, when the North Slope Borough launched a $92 million program to improve production and deliverability.
The program included the Savik 1 and 2 wells at the East Barrow field and the Walakpa 11, 12 and 13 wells at the Walakpa field. By improving deliverability at those two fields, the city of Utqiaġvik can now rely on natural gas for its energy needs even during cold snaps or during maintenance activities, instead of switching to diesel as an alternative.
South Barrow The U.S. Navy discovered the South Barrow field in 1948, during its initial wave of NPR-A exploration. Drilling continued through 1987 with 13 new wells drilled and one deepened, according to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. Production began in November 1981 at 3.5 million cubic feet per day and continued consistently from 1950 through 1990, at which point operators began to suspend production sporadically. The field was shut-in with increasing regularly through the 2000s, often being used only to increase supplies in winter.
After nearly six years of inconsistent production, South Barrow has now been producing regularly since May 2018. Even so, the field has reported some dramatic swings in recent years: from 56.1 million cubic feet in 2020, up to 99.3 million cubic feet in 2021, down to 37.5 million cubic feet in 2022, up to 61.4 million cubic feet in 2023. As of July 2024, the field was producing from S. Barrow Test Well No. 6 and South Barrow NSB No. 1.
Cumulative production at South Barrow is approaching 24.1 billion cubic feet, according to the AOGCC. Early forecasts had estimated some 32 billion cubic feet in lifetime production at the field, suggesting the potential of ongoing production for years to come.
East Barrow The U.S.G.S. discovered the East Barrow field in 1974, during the second wave of NPR-A exploration. Drilling continued through 1990, with eight wells total, followed by the 2011 campaign. The field recently produced from South Barrow No. 14 and Savik No. 1.
The East Barrow field has also reported some dramatic swings in production in recent years: 139.1 million cubic feet in 2020, down to 47 million cubic feet in 2021, up to 99.3 million cubic feet in 2022, and down to 83.1 million cubic feet in 2023. The field appears to have been taken offline in July or August 2023, according to AOGCC records.
Cumulative production through June 2024 was more than 10 billion cubic feet, well above the original gas-in-place estimate of 6.2 billion cubic feet for East Barrow. The city of Utqiaġvik attributes the productivity to the presence of methane hydrates at the field.
Walakpa Working under a U.S. Navy contract, Husky Oil discovered the Walakpa field in the 1980s, followed by the 2011 Walakpa program. Walakpa is the most extensive and most productive of the three Barrow gas fields, currently producing from 11 wells.
The Walakpa field produced 1.34 billion cubic feet in 2023, down slightly from 1.388 billion cubic feet in 2022 and 14.13 billion cubic feet in 2021, according to the AOGCC. Cumulative production through June 30, 2024, was more than 40 billion cubic feet.
The South Barrow and East Barrow reservoirs have a stratigraphic setting similar to the Alpine oil field. Walakpa is in the Pebble Shale unit, a major North Slope source rock.
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