Version 1.0 Evaluation of the Stranded Kavik Gas Field, North Slope of Alaska

• Main Authors: Mahendra K. Verma, Kenneth J. Bird, Philip H. Nelson, Robert C. Burruss
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: The Kavik gas; Psi; Brooks Range; north slope; Prudhoe Bay; Alaska
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.405.6441; http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2005/1389/pdf/OFR-2005-1389.pdf

The Kavik gas field, located about 65 mi southeast of Prudhoe Bay in the Brooks Range foothills, Alaska, was discovered in 1969 on a thrust-faulted anticline representing the western, down-plunge extension of the Sadlerochit Mountains. Although one of the largest and best-defined foothills gas accumulations, for lack of a North Slope gas transportation system this field has not been developed and no public estimate of gas volume has previously been made. Three wells delineate the Kavik field, but only two penetrate the gas column which is about 1,500 ft thick. On the basis of the gas pressure gradient from drillstem tests, the gas-water contact is estimated to be at 4,320 ft subsea (depth below sea level). At this depth, the field covers about 3,600 acres. The reservoir temperature and initial pressure are estimated at 122°F and 2,431 psi, respectively, at the datum of 3,500 ft subsea. Analyses indicate that the gas is dry, contains about 96 percent methane, and has a combined nitrogen and carbon dioxide content of 3 percent; the liquid-gas ratio ranges from 0.3 to 1.3 barrels per million cubic feet (MCF) of gas.