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BP to Increase Production From Wyoming Natural-Gas Field

Posted on: Saturday, 15 October 2005, 00:00 CDT

By Steve Raabe, The Denver Post

Oct. 14--BP, the energy giant formerly known as British Petroleum, plans to invest $2.2 billion to increase production from a Wyoming natural-gas field to serve customers nationwide.

BP will drill 2,000 new wells in the Wamsutter natural-gas field in southern Wyoming over the next 15 years.

The BP proposal is part of a major push by energy companies to produce Rocky Mountain oil and gas in the face of high prices and tight supplies nationally. Colorado this year is expected to issue a record 3,950 drilling permits.

A BP official said the expansion will help the company maintain or increase Wyoming production as output declines at its older natural-gas fields.

"A lot of our (existing) facilities are on the decline," said BP spokesman Jack Rigg Jr. "Wamsutter now becomes real important to us in Wyoming in terms of keeping our production up." BP's existing gas production is centered in southwest Wyoming. One of those fields was jointly developed by BP with Denver entrepreneur Philip Anschutz, on a ranch he owns.

To accommodate growth in the Wamsutter field, BP plans to build a $12 million base camp near the town of Wamsutter.

BP has been exploring the Wamsutter area and producing gas there for the past four years. BP expects to increase gas production from the current 125 million cubic feet a day to 250 million cubic feet daily, which would provide one-third of the natural-gas consumption by Colorado homes and businesses in a typical day.

Natural-gas prices have more than tripled in the past two years and are expected to cause record increases in home heating bills this winter.

The BP expansion proposal will get a close look from environmental advocates, said Kate Drexler, a Wyoming representative for the Sierra Club.

"We're not opposed to the drilling that's happening, because we recognize the need to meet the growing demand for natural gas," she said. "We just think it should be done in a responsible manner."

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Source: The Denver Post

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