Remaining Life at Various Investment Levels
Testimony dated February 28, 2006: There remains as much known oil and gas resource on state lands on the North Slope as has been produced since the start of flow from Prudhoe (p. 10). If investment on the North Slope increases from the then-current level of $1 – 1.5 billion per year to $2 – 3 billion per year, the decline rate in TAPS could be slowed from 6% to 3%, the end of life for TAPS lengthened from 2025 to 2050 and ultimate oil recovered increased by nearly an additional 4 billion barrels (p. 9). At $100 billion of additional investment, the prize could be as much as roughly 14 billion barrels of additional oil and gas production (p. 11).
