Endicott Field: Revitalizing a Mature Field with New Technology

By

M.K. Westergaard, M.A. Vandergon, and C. Sullivan (BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc.)

The Endicott Field was the first Alaskan Arctic offshore development with production commencing in 1987. It has produced 420 mmbo from a peak rate of over 110,000 bopd in 1992, which has declined to a current rate of 30,000 bopd. The field produces from the Mississippian Kekiktuk Formation, and is divided into two major subzones. The lower subzone is a high net-to-gross fluvial-dominated interval and was the primary target of early development drilling. The upper subzone consists of low net-to-gross, laterally discontinuous fluvial deltaic intervals which have proved challenging to develop.

A renewed development program at the mature Endicott Field aims to increase production by targeting by-passed oil. New seismic based tools and techniques are being employed to help predict sand distribution in the low net-to-gross Upper Subzone intervals. Rock property analysis, inversion, multi-linear regression analysis, and probabilistic neural networks are some of the tools that have been applied to this challenge. By calibrating the large volume of well data at Endicott with the 3D seismic data, advances have been made in predicting reservoir trends in the inter-well space.

The 3D seismic trends have been used to condition a geocellular-based geologic model. The model integrates the reservoir distribution with structure, reservoir properties and current fluids, providing a better picture of where the remaining potential exists. This approach will allow the team to target unswept oil and extend the life of the Endicott Field.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90008©2002 AAPG Pacific Section/SPE Western Region Joint Conference of Geoscientists and Petroleum Engineers, Anchorage, Alaska, May 18–23, 2002.