August ANS output down 5.9%; Inlet crude breaks 17,000 bpd
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A 36-hour scheduled shutdown of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline Aug. 29-30 and turnaround work at North Slope oil fields, combined with naturally declining production, resulted in a 5.87 percent August-over-July drop in ANS crude oil production. August ANS production averaged 395,726 barrels per day, down almost 25,000 bpd from a July average of 420,420 bpd.
Tax Division information shows that the largest drop, by percentage and barrels, was at the North Slope’s largest field, BP Exploration (Alaska)-operated Prudhoe Bay, which averaged 170,268 bpd in August, down 10.64 percent (20,275 bpd) from a July average of 190,543 bpd.
Prudhoe, where turnaround activities were scheduled June through September, produced 126,020 barrels Aug. 1, peaked for the month at 234,742 barrels Aug. 26, then dropped to 31,650 barrels Aug. 30, the concluding day of Alyeska Pipeline Service Co.’s second scheduled summer maintenance shutdown. By Sept. 2, Prudhoe production was back above 200,000 bpd.
Prudhoe production includes satellites at Aurora, Borealis, Midnight Sun, Orion, Sag River and Schrader Bluff, as well as production from the Milne Point and Northstar fields.
Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission data shows Milne Point averaged 19,361 bpd in July, down 4.67 percent from a June average of 20,310 bpd, while Northstar averaged 8,747 bpd in July, down 2.23 percent from a June average of 8,946 bpd.
Information for August comes from the Alaska Department of Revenue’s Tax Division which reports North Slope oil production for the most recent month consolidated by major production centers and provides daily production and monthly averages. More detailed data, including Cook Inlet and individual North Slope fields and pools, is reported by the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission on a month-delay basis, so current AOGCC data is for July production.
Alpine, Endicott down The ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Alpine field averaged 45,086 bpd in August, down 8.28 percent from a July average of 49,155 bpd. Tax Division records show that the field was offline beginning Aug. 29; by Sept. 2 production was beginning to ramp back up. ConocoPhillips Alaska said earlier in the summer that the annual turnaround at Alpine would begin in August, with major maintenance and some tie-in work, estimated to take several days.
Alpine includes satellite production from Fiord, Nanuq and Qannik.
The BP-operated Endicott field averaged 8,371 bpd in August, down 7.75 percent from a July average of 9,074 bpd. Endicott includes satellite production from Sag Delta, Eider and Minke, as well as production from the Savant Alaska-operated Badami field to the east. AOGCC data shows that Badami averaged 1,044 bpd in July, down 4 percent from a June average of 1,087 bpd.
Kuparuk almost level Production from the ConocoPhillips-operated Kuparuk River field averaged 146,674 bpd in August, down 0.11 percent from a July average of 146,833 bpd.
Kuparuk production includes satellite production at Meltwater, Northeast West Sak, Tabasco and Tarn, as well as from the Eni-operated Nikaitchuq field and the Caelus Alaska-operated Oooguruk field. AOGCC data shows Nikaitchuq averaged 23,522 bpd in July, down 0.18 percent from a June average of 23,563 bpd, while Oooguruk averaged 15,414 bpd, up 233 percent from a June average of 4,623 bpd. The July volume for Oooguruk is back in the range that the field has been producing in recent months.
The BP-operated Lisburne field averaged 25,327 bpd in August, up 2 percent from a July average of 24,815 bpd.
Cook Inlet breaks 17,000 bpd Cook Inlet production averaged 17,343 bpd in July, breaking the 17,000-bpd barrier, and up 12.66 percent from an average of 15,394 bpd in June. Prior to June, inlet production had averaged more than 16,000 bpd since August 2013.
The largest production increase, 196 percent, was at the XTO-operated Middle Ground Shoal field, which averaged 1,790 bpd in July, up from 604 bpd in June. That June volume, however, was a dramatic drop from a volume which at been running at about 2,000 bpd.
The Cook Inlet Energy-operated West McArthur River field had a 44.67 percent increase, averaging 1,862 bpd in July, up from 1,287 bpd in June.
Hilcorp’s Trading Bay field averaged 2,892 bpd in July, up 13 percent from a June average of 2,560 bpd, and its Swanson River field averaged 2,229 bpd in July, up 7.4 percent from a June average of 2,075 bpd.
Overall, all three Cook Inlet oil producers had month-over-month production increases, led by XTO at Middle Ground Shoal (its only field), followed by Cook Inlet Energy with a 21.85 percent month-over-month production increase to 2,930 bpd and Hilcorp with a 1.92 percent increase to 12,623 bpd.
Other fields in Cook Inlet had month-over-month production declines: Hilcorp’s Beaver Creek down 17 percent to 107 bpd from 128 bpd in June; Cook Inlet Energy’s Redoubt Shoal down 4.44 percent to 1,068 bpd in July from 1,118 bpd in June; Hilcorp’s McArthur River field, at 4,730 bpd down 3.35 percent from a June average of 4,894 bpd; and Hilcorp’s Granite Point field, down 2.26 percent at 2,665 bpd from a June average of 2,727 bpd.
ANS crude oil production peaked in 1988 at 2.1 million bpd; Cook Inlet crude oil production peaked in 1970 at more than 227,000 bpd.
- Kristen Nelson
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