BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc.
Site Report 2013
BP Alaska Site Report 2013
Table of Contents
Forward 3
Introduction
3
Description of Our Operations
Prudhoe Bay
Milne Point
Liberty Endicott Northstar 5
7
7
8
8
8
Management Systems
10
How We Identify and Manage Environmental Impacts 10
Environmental Performance Air Emissions Land Use Spills Waste and Pollution Prevention Water Wildlife 12
12
12
13
14
14
15
Further Information 16
Feedback 17
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BP Alaska Site Report 2013
Foreword
BP has a long history in Alaska, starting over 50 years ago with the exploration and development
of Prudhoe Bay, the largest oil field in North America, and continuing today with our plans for the
next 50 years in Alaska. BP is committed to environmental protection and responsible energy
development.
In Alaska, we are looking for new ways to get more out of our existing fields, as the easy oil has
been developed. The remaining resources, such as smaller light oil deposits, heavy and viscous
oil, and natural gas, are harder to reach. BP is focused on finding ways to develop these resources.
BP is developing new technologies that, coupled with infrastructure renewal, will allow heavy
and offshore oil reserves to be developed from existing infrastructure. This minimizes our environmental footprint.
This Site Report has not been verified externally by a third party, but provides an overview of 2013
environmental performance related to our operations in Alaska. BP Alaska will likely produce a
2016 Verified Site Report (VSR) to combine the use of third party auditors to verify the BP Alaska
Site Report and perform an ISO 14001 recertification audit simultaneously. Alignment simplifies
the VSR and ISO 14001 certification processes. We have had an ISO 14001 certified Environmental Management System (EMS) since 1998 and focus constantly on environmental compliance
and performance. Alaska is a special place and we are privileged to operate here. Access the
BP Sustainability Review here or in the “Further Information” section of this report (page 16)
for additional environmental performance information.
Introduction
BP is committed to safe operations with strong environmental performance. Alaska operates
under BP’s Commitment to Health, Safety, Security and Environmental (HSSE) Policy, signed by
Bob Dudley, BP Group’s Chief Executive (provided on the following page). The HSSE policy is
broadly communicated to BP employees and contractors along with the expectation that everyone working for and on behalf of BP Alaska complies with the HSSE policy.
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BP Alaska Site Report 2013
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BP Alaska Site Report 2013
Description of our operations
BP Alaska’s operations are centered on the oil
fields located in the northern edge of the state
known as the North Slope. The North Slope is
a remote Arctic region connected by a single
road, the Dalton Highway, which is 415 miles
long and joins the road system north of Fairbanks.
The North Slope is a treeless wetland that extends 88,000 square miles from the foothills
of the Brooks Mountain Range to the Arctic
Ocean and west from the Canadian border to
the Chukchi Sea. Approximately 500 square
miles of the Alaska North Slope have been developed for oil and gas production, less than
1% of the total Alaskan Arctic Coastal Plain.
The North Slope experiences extreme winter
conditions from October through April. The
sun does not rise above the horizon for 66 days
starting in November and temperatures can
reach minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit without a
wind chill factor.
2013 Statistics
Employees
2,300
(81% Alaska Residents)
Capital Investment
$896 million
Operating Budget
$1.72 billion
Taxes and royalties
$2.7 billion total payments
Community investment
$5 million
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BP Alaska Site Report 2013
MAP LOCATION
Prudhoe Bay
NPRA
Beaufort Sea
Milne Point
ANWR
Trans Alaska
Pipeline
Northstar
Fairbanks
Anchorage
Valdez
Prudhoe Bay
Juneau
Endicott
0
5
10
MILES
Liberty
Badami
Trans Alaska
Pipeline System
(TAPS)
ANWR
The oil fields are located primarily on leased state lands and adjacent waters of the Beaufort Sea.
The oil reservoirs are thousands of feet deep, located below approximately 2,000 feet of permafrost (permanently frozen soil, rock and ice).
In recent years, BP Alaska has focused on oil production from within its known oil resources and
through technology, has increased expected recovery rates of conventional oil reserves. Typical
worldwide oil recovery rates are approximately 35% of a known reservoir. Technology may enable
heavy oil development and improved oil recovery rates. If the technical and economic hurdles
can be overcome, heavy oil development will be important to sustaining Alaska’s oil production
in the long term.
The Department of Energy estimates there are roughly 35 trillion cubic feet of discovered, technically recoverable natural gas on the North Slope. BP’s share of Alaska’s North Slope natural gas
is one of the largest undeveloped resources in our global portfolio.
At Prudhoe Bay, about 8 billion cubic feet of natural gas is produced daily and injected back into
the ground to maintain reservoir pressure and produce more oil. This injection has improved oil
recovery and extended the life of the field beyond initial estimates.
Safe and reliable operations continue to be the
focus of our Alaska business.
In 2013, BP Alaska operated 13 North Slope oil and gas fields (including Prudhoe Bay, Milne Point,
Endicott, Liberty and Northstar). BP’s North Slope facilities include 10 major oil processing plants,
two gas handling facilities (among the largest in the world), a seawater treatment plant and a
major power generation facility. Roads connect Endicott to the western edge of Kuparuk nearly 90
miles away. BP maintains more than 300 miles of roads and cause-ways in the fields in operates.
There are also several road-less areas between facilities, and the open ocean surrounds Northstar.
To move materials and supplies, temporary ice roads may be constructed during the winter.
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BP Alaska Site Report 2013
Prudhoe Bay
Milne Point
Prudhoe Bay was discovered in 1968 and began
production in 1977. It remains the largest oil field
in North America and among the top 20 largest
fields ever discovered worldwide. The Greater
Prudhoe Bay Area, which includes the fields of
Prudhoe Bay, its satellite fields and the Greater
Point McIntyre Area fields, in total produced
more than 300,000 BOE per day in 2013.
Northstar
0
5
10
MILES
Prudhoe Bay
Endicott
Liberty
Badami
ANWR
The original expectation for Prudhoe Bay was to drill 500 wells, produce for 20 years and recover 9
billion barrels of hydrocarbon resources. Today, the Greater Prudhoe Bay Area cumulative production is more than 12 billion BOE. During the last three decades Prudhoe Bay has been a proving
ground for oil field technology that has helped BP Alaska and other companies go beyond what
was ever thought possible in maximizing production from this super-giant field.
The primary oil production infrastructure for Prudhoe Bay consists of seven oil processing facilities
and two gas processing plants. The oil production facilities take in crude oil from well sites and
process it for shipment down the Trans-Alaska Pipeline by separating the oil from gas and water.
The gas and water are re-injected into the reservoir for enhanced oil recovery. Support facilities
include three main camps with offices, dining halls, and recreational facilities; medical facilities;
and fire departments.
BP has measurable safety and reliability programs for pipeline assurance on the North Slope. It
includes frequent inspections and applied technology. BP does more than 110,000 annual inspections for corrosion under insulation and about 160,000 total pipeline inspections a year (X-ray,
ultrasound, and visual). Spending on corrosion monitoring and prevention is roughly $120 million
annually. In addition, with other North Slope safety and reliability programs, such as annual turnarounds, BP has spent about $850 million annually for the past eight years.
Milne Point1
The Milne Point Unit (MPU) field is located approximately 25 miles west of Prudhoe Bay.
Production began in 1985 under Conoco, with
BP Alaska acquiring majority interest and operatorship of the field in 1994. Milne Point’s cumulative oil production is 314 million BOE and it
currently produces about 18,600 BOE per day.
Milne Point
Northstar
0
5
10
MILES
Prudhoe Bay
Endicott
Liberty
Badami
Milne is leading the way in attempting to develop viscous oil reserves. Starting in 2008, BP Alaska
tested heavy oil production and a pilot program was undertaken, with four wells and a processing
facility designed specifically for heavy oil. Today, the pilot program is complete; however the MPU
still holds significant quantities of viscous oil reserves.
1 In April 2014, BP agreed to sell interests in four BP-operated fields to Hilcorp including all of BP’s interest in the Endicott and Northstar
oilfields and a 50 percent interest in each of the Liberty and Milne Point fields. The sale is anticipated to be complete by the end of 2014.
Hilcorp is an independent company based in Houston, Texas.
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ANWR
BP Alaska Site Report 2013
Milne Point
Northstar
0
5
10
MILES
Prudhoe Bay
Endicott
Liberty
Badami
Liberty1
ANWR
BP is refocusing on alternative development options for the undeveloped Liberty oilfield. The
Liberty field is located 6 miles offshore, east of Prudhoe Bay, on federal leases in the Beaufort
Sea. The planned development could include the construction of a gravel island located over the
reservoir, the drilling of wells from the island, and connection of Liberty island to the shore via
a subsea pipeline. A Development Plan of Production (DPP) will be submitted to the Bureau of
Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) by the end of 2014.
BP drilled the Liberty discovery well in 1997. Field development could ultimately cost $2 billion, with recovery of about
100 million barrels of oil.
Endicott1
Endicott was the first continuously producing oil field located offshore in the Beaufort Sea and began production in
1987. The development consists of two man-made gravel
islands connected to shore by a causeway. The main production island where the processing facilities and living facilities are located is approximately 55 acres. The two satellite
drilling islands are approximately 14 acres. The causeway
that connects the two islands to the mainland contains breaches to allow for water flow and fish
passage. BP Alaska has conducted studies on the effects of the causeways on fish since field
inception.
Built ten years after Prudhoe Bay, Endicott has a surface footprint 70 percent smaller than the
Prudhoe production facilities. Endicott’s cumulative oil production is 499 million BOE with production in 2013 of 8,400 BOE per day.
1 In April 2014, BP agreed to sell interests in four BP-operated fields to Hilcorp including all of BP’s interest in the Endicott and Northstar
oilfields and a 50 percent interest in each of the Liberty and Milne Point fields. The sale is anticipated to be complete by the end of 2014.
Hilcorp is an independent company based in Houston, Texas.
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BP Alaska Site Report 2013
Milne Point
Northstar
0
5
10
MILES
Prudhoe Bay
Endicott
Liberty
Badami
Northstar1
ANWR
Northstar is an offshore development, consisting of a five acre island in the Beaufort Sea. The
Northstar unit is located in state and federal waters and is located six miles northwest of Prudhoe
Bay. Production began in 2001. Oil is processed on the island and transported by an undersea
pipeline to a connection with the Trans-Alaska Pipeline.
The island is located in 39 feet of water and is protected from sea ice by a concrete armor, a steel
sheet pile wall and underwater bench and berm system. Transportation to and from the island
varies with the season and weather conditions. An ice road is used in the winter with a helicopter
or hovercraft in the non-winter seasons.
BP Alaska worked closely with local residents to minimize the impact of Northstar on subsistence
whaling activities. During the time period as operator, BP Alaska had ongoing studies analyzing
the impacts of its operation on bowhead whales1. BP Alaska Northstar has produced 159 million
BOE since production began and produced about 9,200 BOE per day during 2013.
1 In April 2014, BP agreed to sell interests in four BP-operated fields to Hilcorp including all of BP’s interest in the Endicott and Northstar oilfields and
a 50 percent interest in each of the Liberty and Milne Point fields. The sale is anticipated to be complete by the end of 2014. Hilcorp is an independent
company based in Houston, Texas.
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BP Alaska Site Report 2013
Management Systems
BP Alaska has operated under an Environmental Management System (EMS) since 1998. An
EMS provides a structure for managing environmental compliance and improving performance.
BP Alaska’s EMS is independently certified to meet the requirements of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001 every three years. BP Alaska has a single ISO 14001
certificate for its North Slope activities conducted under BP’s operatorship.
BP Alaska also operates under BP’s global Operating Management System (OMS), which is a
comprehensive framework for operating in a safe and reliable manner. OMS has a strong focus
on risk reduction and continuous improvement. OMS integrates other management systems such
as EMS and requires that major operating sites maintain their external ISO 14001 certification.
How we identify and manage
environmental impacts
BP Alaska identifies environmental aspects related to its activities through formal processes
such as EMS and the BP Group Defined Practice for Environmental and Social Requirements
for New Access Projects, Major Projects, International Protected Area Projects and Acquisition
Negotiations; risk identification activities; systematic review of incidents and near-miss events;
and routine work practices.
Through EMS, environmental aspects are reviewed and updated annually, and then assigned
scores associated with known or potential health impacts to people, known or potential impacts
to the environment; likelihood of noncompliance of legal and other requirements; reputational risk
associated with the aspects, and the frequency that each environmental aspect occurs.
The scores from each aspect are then evaluated for environmental significance, according to our
internal ranking criteria. Items ranked significant become focus areas for developing annual objectives and targets to improve environmental performance. These activities become incorporated
into OMS annual operating plan activity sets with measured performance.
Environmental impacts for proposed large capital projects are evaluated by using the BP Group
Defined Practice for Environmental and Social Requirements for New Access Projects, Major Projects, International Protected Area Projects and Acquisition Negotiations. This Practice requires
thorough assessment of environmental impacts during the project’s development phase and
information obtained during the assessment influences if and how the project is built.
and takes actions to correct the problem(s) leading to the incident and prevent recurrence. Lessons learned from incidents are distributed for shared learning throughout BP Alaska and if applicable, the wider BP organization.
Routine work practices that may identify environmental impacts include audits, inspections, and
pre-job meetings. Information gathered during these routine tasks may be addressed directly and/
or fed into other BP Alaska processes for management.
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BP Alaska Site Report 2013
How we identify and manage
environmental impacts
Continued from page 10
As part of OMS, BP Alaska has prioritized risk identification and reduction activities. Environmental impacts and risks have traditionally been managed separately but are becoming incorporated
into the overall OMS process, which includes prioritized mitigation plans.
BP Alaska internally investigates incidents and near-miss events, which includes environmental
events, and takes actions to correct the problem(s) leading to the incident and prevent recurrence.
Lessons learned from incidents are distributed for shared learning throughout BP Alaska and if
applicable, the wider BP organization.
Routine work practices that may identify environmental impacts include audits, inspections, and
pre-job meetings. Information gathered during these routine tasks may be addressed directly and/
or fed into other BP Alaska processes for management.
Significant environmental aspects in 2013 included:
• Air emissions
• Land Use
• Potential Spills
• Waste generation and management
•Water
•Wildlife
BP Alaska manages its significant environmental aspects through operational controls such as
engineered controls, training, work practices and procedures.
Regulatory compliance is of critical importance to BP. BP Alaska has a team of environmental and
regulatory compliance professionals who track changing regulations, obtain necessary permits for
operations, conduct training for compliance with permits and regulations and manage compliance
requirements.
BP Alaska manages regulatory compliance obligations through a database tool that delivers reminders of required compliance tasks and tracks associated completion data. Senior BP management regularly reviews compliance performance and intervenes as needed to assure compliance
in operations. In addition, management regularly reviews compliance data for on-time completion. Any non-compliance is reported to the appropriate agency. BP Alaska also investigates noncompliances to determine cause and needed corrective actions.
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BP Alaska Site Report 2013
Environmental Performance
Air Emissions
Air emissions are a significant environmental aspect of BP Alaska’s operations, of which Oxides
of Nitrogen (NOx) are the most significant regulated pollutants. Air emissions are strictly regulated by the State of Alaska and federal regulations. Permits are required for construction and
operations as well as changes to industrial and living facilities. BP Alaska manages its emissions
on an ongoing basis through operational controls, including flaring. Flaring is a safety device and
is strictly regulated to minimize emissions and volumes of natural gas consumed.
In 2013, BP Alaska had several projects related to improving emissions source equipment. We
also developed a monitoring plan for particulate materials (PM) and a preventive maintenance
program for fugitive emissions using forward looking infrared (FLIR) cameras to detect leaks
(fugitive emissions are natural gas leaks associated with facility piping that impact air quality and
can pose an integrity threat to facilities). Reducing “opacity” emissions is continually a focus and
will require facility upgrades in certain areas.
Regulated Air Emissions
Land Use
BP Alaska operations are located in a tundra environment, which is comprised of wetlands underlain by permafrost. To protect the tundra and avoid thermal subsidence, facilities are built on
gravel pads connected by gravel roads. Any activity affecting the tundra, such as placement of
gravel for a pad expansion or travel on an ice road requires permits through local, state and/or
federal agencies.
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BP Alaska Site Report 2013
Land Use
Continued from page 12
We minimize our impact on tundra through use of ice roads and pads to access pipelines for inspections and to conduct exploratory drilling. Technological improvements in drilling allow closer
spacing of wells and horizontal wells, which allows access to the oil reservoir without additional
gravel placement. In addition, BP Alaska has a program to remove gravel from roads and pads
that have been abandoned and to rehabilitate the tundra.
Reportable Spills
Spills
Spills are a key environmental risk for BP Alaska. BP Alaska tracks and cleans up all spills and
leaks. Spills are reported in accordance with local, state and federal requirements. Top management regularly reviews spill data. Efforts to reduce the number of spills include routine replacement of hydraulic hoses and use of liners under vehicles when parked on ice roads and pads.
Significant attention is also given to assuring facilities and pipeline integrity, including corrosion
inspections.
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BP Alaska Site Report 2013
Waste and Pollution Prevention
BP Alaska’s primary waste streams are drilling waste and solid waste. We actively look for recycling and waste minimization opportunities to reduce our solid waste, such as recycling tires and
using refillable totes instead of barrels. Any drilling wastes that cannot be managed through reuse or recycling are disposed of through subsurface disposal using state and federally-permitted
injection wells.
In 2012, BP Alaska began operating a second waste and recycling site to improve source separation and solid waste management.
Water
Fresh water consumption is not a significant environmental issue for BP Alaska, as our production
facilities do not consumptively use fresh water for industrial processes. However, fresh water
is used for ice roads, domestic supply, and drilling operations; this water use is regulated by the
State of Alaska.
Our facilities do produce waste water, primarily in the form of produced water (water separated
out of the crude oil during processing). Such water is beneficially reused by injection into the
oil-bearing reservoirs to maintain reservoir pressure and for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). We
also have some domestic wastewater from our camps that are treated at our wastewater plants
and discharged to surface water in accordance with state and federal permits.
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BP Alaska Site Report 2013
Freshwater Withdrawn
Wildlife
Our operating area is rich with wildlife. North Slope wetlands are a key summer habitat for many
bird species. Caribou seasonally migrate to the coastal plain. The North Slope is a year-round
home to animals such as musk oxen and polar bears. Several threatened and endangered species are found in our operating area, including the Spectacled eider, Steller’s eider, polar bear, and
Bowhead whale. BP Alaska has strict non-interference policy for all wildlife. This policy specifies
that animals have the right of way and that people cannot interfere with sick or injured animals.
Hunting and trapping is not allowed within the oilfield boundaries.
BP Alaska has a wildlife monitoring program that includes studies aimed at better understanding
any effects that our operations have on wildlife populations. For instance, installation of forward
looking infrared radar (FLIR) cameras along proposed ice road routes gather data to ensure we do
not build a road within close proximity to a polar bear den.
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BP Alaska Site Report 2013
Further Information
Additional information about BP and its operations in Alaska can be found
at the following websites.
BP Annual Reporting
http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/sustainability/about-our-reporting.html
BP in Alaska website access
http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/about-bp/bp-worldwide/bp-in-america/our-us-operations/exploration-and-production/alaska
BP 2013 Sustainability Review
http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/sustainability.html
BP HSE Charting Tool
http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/sustainability/hse-charting-tool.html
BP Environmental Performance
http://www.bp.com/sectiongenericarticle800.do?categoryId=9036339&contentId=7067129
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BP Alaska Site Report 2013
Feedback
Tell us what you think. Are our statements easy to understand,
not detailed enough or perhaps too complicated?
Is there any further information in which you are interested? Let us know what you think so we
can improve our report. If you have any queries about this report or general operations, please
write or telephone us and we will be happy to assist.
BPXA
P.O. Box 196612
900 Benson Blvd
Anchorage, AK 99519-6612
Tel. 1 (907) 561-5111,
ask for Regulatory Compliance & Environmental Manager
The next BP Alaska Site Report will be issued during 2016
and will cover the period from 2014 to 2015.
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