Companies bet on heavy oil

PRUDHOE BAY, Alaska – Oil companies are betting that heavy oil in Alaska will result in a big payoff. Heavy oil, which has the consistency of thick molasses, lies in sandstone above the huge reservoir of light oil that has been flowing down the trans-Alaska pipeline since 1977.

With that reservoir being drawn down, BP Group PLC and ConocoPhillips Co. are turning to hard-to-pump heavy oil to extend the life of Alaska