NEWS BULLETIN

August 05, 2008 --- Vol. 14, No. 84August 2008

Point Thomson leases terminated

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources has terminated all 44 expired leases in the former Point Thomson unit, leaving one 15-acre lease in the unit area that will expire in March 2010.

The termination decision was issued Aug. 4 and is available on the Division of Oil and Gas Web site at www.dog.dnr.state.ak.us/oil.

Most of the Point Thomson area leases were issued more than 25 years ago, DNR said, some as many as 43 years ago, and none have ever produced hydrocarbons.

DNR Commissioner Tom Irwin terminated the Point Thomson unit April 22 for failure to fulfill development obligations.

The department said the area leases expired because the leases are years beyond their primary terms, are not producing hydrocarbons, do not have any capable wells, and are no longer part of a unit.

DNR said it expects that the lessees will appeal the lease termination decisions.

ANS production down 2.8% in July

Alaska North Slope production averaged 648,539 barrels per day in July, down 2.75 percent from a June average of 666,873 bpd.

The drop in production was led by the BP Exploration (Alaska)-operated Prudhoe Bay field and the ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Kuparuk River field. Both had major facilities shut down for planned maintenance.

Prudhoe averaged 258,170 bpd in July, down 9.67 percent from a June average of 285,765 bpd.

Kuparuk averaged 131,021 bpd in July, down 8.1 percent from a June average of 142,547 bpd.

Production at the BP-operated Northstar field averaged 34,243 bpd in July, down 3.9 percent from a June average of 35,641 bpd.

The BP-operated Lisburne field, which had the largest month-to-month increase in production, 61 percent, was offline entirely in early June for planned maintenance. July production at the field averaged 35,371 bpd compared to 21,951 bpd in June.

Endicott production averaged 45,210 bpd in July, up 11.1 percent from a June average of 40,682.

BP’s Milne Point field averaged 29,383 bpd in July, up 4 percent from a June average of 28,251.

The ConocoPhillips-operated Alpine field averaged 115,141 bpd in July, up 2.8 percent from a June average of 112,036 bpd.

See full stories in Aug. 10 issue of Petroleum News, available to subscribers online at noon Friday, Aug. 8, at www.PetroleumNews.com.


Petroleum News - Phone: 1-907 522-9469
[email protected] --- https://www.PetroleumNews.com
S U B S C R I B E

CLICK BELOW FOR A MESSAGE FROM OUR ADVERTISERS.