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Vol. 22, No. 32 Week of August 06, 2017
Providing coverage of Alaska and northern Canada's oil and gas industry

July ANS production down 11% from June

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Average 436,290 bpd, with biggest drops at Lisburne, Prudhoe Bay, both areas where BP has turnarounds scheduled over the summer

Kristen Nelson

Petroleum News

July Alaska North Slope crude oil production averaged 436,290 barrels per day, down 11.1 percent from a June average of 490,758 bpd, a drop of 54,468 bpd. The largest volume drop was at the BP-operated Prudhoe Bay field, the Slope’s largest, which averaged 220,106 bpd in July, down 17.6 percent, 47,136 bpd, from a June average of 267,242 bpd.

A maintenance turnaround was scheduled at the field this summer, “focused on piping replacements, facility maintenance, vessel repairs and other improvement projects” at Gathering Center 1, BP Exploration (Alaska) spokeswoman Dawn Patience told Petroleum News in May.

Prudhoe volumes averaged more than 250,000 bpd at the beginning of July, with production beginning to drop at mid-month and falling below 200,000 bpd beginning July 23; the field averaged 113,099 bpd July 31.

July information comes from the Alaska Department of Revenue’s Tax Division which reports North Slope oil production 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.

Volumes for Prudhoe Bay include satellite production from Aurora, Borealis, Midnight Sun, Orion, Polaris, Sag River Schrader Bluff and Ugnu, as well as from the Hilcorp Alaska-operated Milne Point and Northstar fields.

AOGCC data for June show Milne Point averaged 19,604 bpd that month, up 8.1 percent, 1,475 bpd, from a May average of 18,129 bpd, while Northstar averaged 7,593 bpd in June, up 7 percent, 493 bpd, from a May average of 7,100 bpd.

The largest percentage drop, 35.9 percent, was at the BP-operated Lisburne field. Patience told Petroleum News in an Aug. 1 email that Lisburne was also undergoing planned maintenance.

Lisburne production averaged 14,950 bpd in July, down 8,387 bpd from a June average of 23,337 bpd. Lisburne includes volumes from Niakuk, Point McIntyre and Raven.

Kuparuk

The ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Kuparuk River field also had a month-over-month decline, averaging 132,901 bpd in July, down 1.8 percent, 2,394 bpd, from a June average of 135,295. ConocoPhillips Alaska spokeswoman Natalie Lowman told Petroleum News in May that the company had “no significant turnarounds planned at Kuparuk this season.”

Kuparuk volumes include satellite production from Meltwater, Tabasco, Tarn and West Sak, as well as from the Eni-operated Nikaitchuq field and the Caelus Alaska-operated Oooguruk field.

AOGCC data show Nikaitchuq averaged 19,270 bpd in June, down 18.2 percent, 4,298 bpd, from a May average of 23,569 bpd, while Oooguruk averaged 11,881 bpd, down 5.7 percent, 720 bod, from a May average of 12,601 bpd.

Alpine, Endicott

Both ConocoPhillips-operated Alpine and Hilcorp-operated Endicott had month-over-month increases in volume.

Alpine averaged 58,604 bpd in July, up 3.9 percent, 2,190 bpd, from a June average of 56,414 bpd. There was a turnaround at Alpine scheduled for mid-June, and the field was down completely for two days then, with steady volumes in July.

Alpine production includes satellites at Fiord, Nanuq and Qannik.

Production at Endicott averaged 9,729 bpd in July, up 14.9 percent, 1,259 bpd, from a June average of 8,470 bpd.

Endicott volumes include Eider, Minke and Sag Delta, as well as the Glacier Oil & Gas subsidiary Savant Alaska-operated Badami field and the ExxonMobil Production-operated Point Thomson field.

AOGCC data show Badami averaged 867 bpd in June, up 0.2 percent, 2 bpd, from a May average of 865 bpd, while Point Thomson averaged 280 bpd in June, down 90.7 percent, 2,713 bpd, from a May average of 2,993 bpd. July Tax Division volumes for Endicott would appear to indicate that Point Thomson was operating marginally most of July, with total Endicott volumes only rising to the 10,000-14,000 bpd for about a third of the month. The Point Thomson facilities are capable of producing 10,000 bpd, and Endicott production prior to Point Thomson startup in April 2016 was averaging some 8,000 bpd.

Cook Inlet up 4%

AOGCC data show crude oil production from Cook Inlet averaged 13,259 bpd in June, up 4.1 percent from a May average of 12,740 bpd.

The Hilcorp-operated Middle Ground Shoal field is still down completely, with smart pigging scheduled for two lines in July, at which point the company can coordinate with regulators on production restart, Hilcorp spokeswoman Lori Nelson told Petroleum News in June.

Hilcorp’s Beaver Creek averaged 177 bpd in June, up 10.1 percent from a May average of 160 bpd.

Granite Point, also operated by Hilcorp, averaged 2,239 bpd, up about 1 percent, 21 bpd, from a May average of 2,218 bpd.

The BlueCrest-operated Hansen field, the Cosmopolitan project, averaged 189 bpd in June, up 27.6 percent, 41 bpd, from a May average of 148 bpd.

Hilcorp’s McArthur River field, Cook Inlet’s largest, averaged 4,850 bpd in June, up 18.7 percent, 766 bpd, from a May average of 4,084 bpd.

Redoubt Shoal, operated by Glacier Oil & Gas, averaged 925 bpd in June, up 6.3 percent, 55 bpd, from a May average of 870 bpd.

Hilcorp’s Swanson River field averaged 1,914 bpd in June, down 5.9 percent, 119 bpd, from a May average of 2,033 bpd, while the company’s Trading Bay field averaged 1,976 bpd, up 10.4 percent, 187 bpd, from a May average of 1,789 bpd.

Glacier Oil & Gas’ West McArthur field averaged 988 bpd in June, down 31.1 percent, 446 bpd, from a May average of 1,434 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.



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