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Open-File Report 2005–1389
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Evaluation of the Stranded Kavik Gas Field, North Slope of Alaska

By Mahendra K. Verma, Kenneth J. Bird, Philip H. Nelson, and Robert C. Burruss

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For lack of a transportation system, natural gas in northern Alaska is not currently economic even though more than 30 trillion cubic feet are estimated to occur in just two accumulations. Current interest and activity suggest that within the next 10 years a natural gas pipeline could become a reality. Such an eventuality would likely spur exploration for additional natural gas reservoirs, particularly in the Brooks Range foothills, as well as the re-evaluation and possible development of earlier gas discoveries, such as the Kavik gas field.

The Kavik gas field was discovered in 1969 at the height of exploratory drilling in the year following the discovery of the Prudhoe Bay oil field—the largest oil accumulation in North America. The Kavik gas field is about 65 miles southeast of Prudhoe Bay on an anticline in the foothills of the Brooks Range, in the same Triassic reservoirs that host oil at Prudhoe Bay. Like most hydrocarbon accumulations in the foothills, the Kavik accumulation is a nonassociated gas field. Whereas most foothills gas accumulations are poorly known because they are penetrated by just one well, and many of those were discovered before modern well logs were available, the Kavik gas field is unusual in that three wells delineate the field and all have a complete suite of relatively modern logs that have been released to the public. However, no estimate of the volume of gas in this accumulation has been released. Because of current interest in a North Slope gas transportation system and gas resources, we have assembled available data on the Kavik gas field and made an estimate of the volume of gas in this accumulation.

This evaluation of the Kavik gas field's potential hydrocarbon reserves was presented at a poster session of the Geological Society of America/American Association of Petroleum Geologists conference held in San Jose, Calif., April 29 through May 1, 2005.

Version 1.0

Posted November 2005

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