ExxonMobil starts production at Point Thomson

OREANDA-NEWS. April 25, 2016. ExxonMobil has started ramping up production from the \\$4bn Point Thomson project on Alaska's North Slope to a target of 10,000 b/d of natural gas condensate.

Point Thomson is Exxon's first operated project in that gas-rich area of Alaska. Output from the project should peak in a few months, when the west production pad comes on line, the company said.

Initial production from the central pad is designed to reach about 5,000 b/d of condensate and 100mn cf/d (2.8mn m?/d) of natural gas. That gas will be reinjected at the site and recovered in the future. Once Point Thomson reaches full capacity, it will produce about 200mn cf/d of gas.

The project "reinforces our commitment to pursuing the development of Alaska's natural gas resources," said Neil Duffin, president of ExxonMobil Development.

Exxon will remove the gas from producing wells, strip away the condensate and then reinject the gas to maintain reservoir pressure. The condensate will be funneled through a 22-mile pipeline into the Trans Alaska crude pipeline. Exxon is evaluating options for moving gas to the planned Alaska LNG project on the southern coast of the state.

The project is located on state land along the Beaufort Sea, 60 miles east of Prudhoe Bay and taps into the Point Thomson reservoir, which holds an estimated 8 Tcf (227bn m?) of gas and associated condensate, Exxon said.