BP will spend about $600 million in its 2006 budget for development and other capital expenses in Alaska and more than $1 billion to run and maintain its Alaska oil fields, a company spokesman said.
The capital spending is down about $100 million, said Daren Beaudo of BP Exploration.
BP is the state's No. 2 oil producer. It operates most of the North Slope fields, including the giant Prudhoe Bay field.
The top producer, ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc., earlier announced a planned capital budget of $800 million for next year, up about $60 million from 2005.
The company runs North Slope fields not operated by BP, including the Kuparuk River and Alpine fields.
Although BP's $600 million capital budget for Alaska is down, Beaudo said, more of the money will be spent on the North Slope.
The 2005 budget contained about $350 million to build new double-hulled tankers and to help modernize the 800-mile trans-Alaska oil pipeline, of which BP is half-owner, he said. The 2005 budget had gone up because of those expenses, he said.
The 2006 capital budget includes $161 million for tankers, he said.
Besides the capital budget, BP spent more than $1 billion on operations and maintenance in 2005, Beaudo said.
The money includes more than just running existing operations, he said. Also included in the amount is infrastructure renewal, well work and "improving our facilities to handle current and future production needs" for the 50-year future BP sees in Alaska, Beaudo said.
"We're looking at $13 billion in capital investment over the next decade," Beaudo said, including a proposed natural gas pipeline.
ConocoPhillip's $800 million capital budget will be directed primarily toward developing satellite fields near Alpine and continued development at Prudhoe, Kuparuk and the huge but difficult-to-produce West Sak heavy oil field near Kuparuk, the company said.
Conoco spokeswoman Dawn Patience said the capital budget also includes money for tankers and exploration.
Conoco spent about $1 billion in 2005 operating and maintaining its Alaska investments, she said. The company has not released its operating and maintenance budget for 2006, she said.
