U.S. Department of EnergyNational Energy Technology Laboratory

William (Bill) F. Lawson National Petroleum Technology Office

DOE Projects to Benefit Alaska

February 26, 2003

DOE Goals

Assist Communities, Producers, State and Federal Government by Providing Sound Science for Regulation and Development of Alaska’s Resources

Provides Enabling or Breakthrough Technologies for Alaskan and Arctic Conditions.

Information Flows From DOE To the Field

NETL Current Petroleum Projects Nine Current RD&D Projects - upstream, downstream and environmental

Alaska Oil & Gas Exploration: Development and Permitting Project Northeast NPR-Alaska Reconnaissance Level Airborne Contaminants Study

Evaluation of Potential Coal Bed Methane Beneath Priority Sites in Rural Alaska Development and Demonstration of Mobile Small Footprint Exploration and Development

Well System for the Arctic Unconventional Gas Resources Methane Hydrate Characterization and Quantification

Conversion Extraction Desulfurization Process Biocatalyst Desulfurization

Challenges in Transport of GTL Liquids through TAPS Transport of Gas Liquids from ANS to Markets Oxygen Transport Ceramic Membrane

DOE Arctic Energy Office in Alaska UAF-DOE Cooperative Agreement on Energy Technology RD&D

Projects Outside Alaska can have an impact on Alaska Drilling Technologies, Environmental Cleanup and Waste Management

DOE’s Role in Developing Technologies To Address Environmental, Supply, and Reliability Constraints of

Producing and Using Fossil Energy

Alaska Oil & Gas Exploration: Development and Permitting Project – by State of Alaska

Eliminate three closely inter-related barriers to oil production in Alaska through the use of a geographic information system (GIS) and other information technology strategies

Barriers involve: Identifying of oil development potential from existing wells Planning projects to efficiently avoid conflicts with other interests Gaining state approvals for exploration and development

projects Solution a web-based system will enable the public and other review

participants to track permit status, submit and view comments, and obtain important project information on-line.

Automating several functions of the current manual process, permit applications will be completed more quickly and accurately, and agencies will be able to complete reviews with fewer delays.

Cooperative Efforts with other Federal, State and Local Groups

Federal Leadership Forum Working Group of Land Management Agencies and

DOE Participate with BLM-Montana office

State of Montana, Statewide EIS NE-NPR Alaska Research & Monitoring Team Participate in State Review Process of

Environmental Regulatory Practices

Research and Monitoring Team

Northeast National Petroleum Reserve –Alaska Integrated Activity Plan/Environmental Impact Statement

Plan establishes procedures and advisory bodies to address subsistence and research concerns.

Representatives from Federal, State, and North Slope Borough agencies, the oil industry, environmental groups, academia and other interested parties will be invited to participate on the research and monitoring team.

Team will coordinate research and monitoring projects in NE-NPR-Alaska

Northeast National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska Reconnaissance Level Airborne Contaminants Study

by Bureau of Land Management Operated under the Research and Monitoring Team Air contaminant baseline study in Northeast NPR - Alaska

Study effects of airborne contaminants on watersheds Expand the number of index sites in Northeast Alaska

Determine current air contaminants and provide a baseline to determine the fate and effect of future oilfield activities

Provide environmental quality baseline for the indigenous people of the Alaskan Arctic

Coalbed Methane Studies – Lessons from other States

Water Management Practices Better Science on Water Quality Soil Quality and CBM Water Effects Production Techniques Improved and Refined Beneficial Uses of CBM Water Improved Coal Seam Aquifer Recharge Science Enhanced Geology and Geophysical Science

Coalbed Methane Potential in Alaska

• Alaska contains half of the coal resources of the United States

Estimate of Alaskan coalbed methane reserves- 1,000 Tcf

One billion cubic ft of producible CBM reserves would provide a community of 700 people electricity for 30 years

Highest prospective CBM coal basins in Alaska Western North Slope Basin near Wainwright Alaska Peninsula near Chignik Bay Yukon Flats Basin at Fork Yukon

Source: Alaska GeoSurvey News June 2001

Development and Demonstration of Mobile Small Footprint Exploration and Development Well System for the Arctic

Unconventional Gas Resources by NANA Development Corp.

Goal to provide an economic, local alternative fuel source for remote Arctic villages and industrial complexes Provide a lower cost, efficient fuel source to Native

villagesPlanned development of unconventional gas resource Develop natural gas sites near where it will be used Natural gas to displace trucked-n diesel fuel for engines and

electric power generation Significantly reduce emissions Reduce fuel cost

3 inch slimhole drill rig designed to explore and produce unconventional gas

Performers NANA Development Corp., Teck Cominco -Red Dog Mine,

and Advanced Resources International

Mobile Slimhole Rig and Tool

Pushing the Limits of Science and Technology - MicroDrilling

Methane Hydrate Researchby Maurer Technology & Anadarko Petroleum

Objective: evaluate subsurface hydrate occurrence and production potential

Hydrates resource in Arctic is estimated at 11,000 to 24,000 Tcf

Develop specialized drilling platform Determine best practices for safe and

economic drilling and production of methane hydrates in the Alaskan permafrost

Chilled drilling fluids to insure core recovery using hard rock mining rig in Kuparuk oil field.

3 year, $10 million cost-shared with Anadarko and DOE

Arctic Drilling/Production Platform(Maurer /Anadarko)

Good for the environment (reduced footprint)

Good for industry (year round access)

1/2 scale platform designed & built

1 drilling pad for 36 wells Moved to Alaska in late

December 2002 Drilling in March 2003

Laboratory studies Pure hydrate/hydrate-sediments

mixtures

Tool development Remote, geophysical characterization Sampling and analysis in the field

Field studies Marine Environments

Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic Arctic Regions

Canada, Alaska

Model development

Methane Hydrate R&D Activities

Mobile Analysis Laboratory Onsite sample analysis Maurer/Anadarko

RAMAN Spectroscopy In-situ crystal structure characteristics Pacific Northwest National Lab

Infrared-imaging Quickly locates hydrates in cores Pacific Northwest National Lab

X-Ray Linear Scanner Imaging pore structure of hydrate core Lawrence Berkley Lab

Hydrate Coring/Handling/Analysis Handbook Best practices from well to lab Westport Scanning laser RamanScanning laser Raman

Field Sampling and Analysis ToolsAdditional State-of-the-Art Tools

Interior of Mobile LabInterior of Mobile Lab

Gas Liquid Cylindrical Cyclone (GLCC)Objective: Develop and improve a three-phase gas-

liquid cylindrical cyclone (GLCC) separator

Participants: University of Tulsa, plus 15 industry JIP

membersSuccesses: Reduced footprint and 3 fold cost

savings over conventional separators Field application demonstrated a

savings of $3.2 million over conventional separators

Offshore non-producing oil well brought back to life at 1000 B/day

Technology that Works Goes to the Field Immediately – Alaska, Indonesia, Venezuela

Conversion Extraction Desulfurization Process and the Biocatalyst Desulfurization Project

by PetroStar Inc.

Both projects aimed at meeting EPA requirements on sulfur content in fuel

Two desulfurization strategies Chemical Extraction Biocatalyst Desulfurization

Applicable to other small refiners who cannot afford a high-pressure hydrotreater and hydrogen plant

PetroStar Valdez Refinery

Insert slide on GTL

Projects Outside Alaska that can be Beneficial to Alaskan Independents

Simultaneous Injection Pilot Project: Phase I – Feasibility Study - Argonne National Laboratory

Design and Development of Gas Liquid Cylindrical Cyclone Compact Separators for Three Phase Flow - University of Tulsa

Improved Oilfield Waste Injection Techniques – Terralog Technologies

Advanced Cuttings Transport Study – University of Tulsa

Disposal of Drill cuttings into Unconsolidated Sandstones and Clayey Sands – Westport Technology

Improved Oilfield Waste Injection Techniques by Terralog Technologies

Waste injection projects in Alaska, California, Louisiana and Canada

Develop a cost-effective waste injection technique Containment of waste in target interval Sequence of sands and shales, better than a single shale Slurry mix of 10-40% by volume solids Screening method eliminates larger material and handles it

separately Reduces cost of producing slurry, because the process does

not grind unnecessary material Develop software for prediction and control of fracture

propagation in soft formations Visualization of changes in fractures by injection invasion New integrated rock mechanics and fluid flow models Monitor injection rate daily to maintain episodic high rate

injection

DOE Benefits to Alaska

Technology in Time Broker of Sound Science Partners with the Community Protect the Environment

Find more information about the Department of Energy and its programs at the following web sites:

www.fe.doe.gov – DOE Fossil Energy Office (project fact sheets and educational information)

www.npto.doe.gov – Oil programs and Environmental programs (E&P software downloads)

www.netl.doe.gov – Natural Gas programs, Coal programs and Fuels programs

www.eren.doe.gov – Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency

www.pttc.org – Petroleum Technology Transfer Council technology links

www.osti.org – Free technical reports www.sc.doe.gov – Fellowships and Education Opportunities

Bill.Lawson@netl.doe.gov