Alaska North Slope crude oil production averaged 705,360 barrels per day in September, up a dramatic 27.8 percent from an August average of 552,114 bpd.
The biggest month-over-month change, an increase of 100.6 percent, was at the ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Alpine field which was offline during a good part of September for planned maintenance, work that overlapped with the second planned trans-Alaska oil pipeline shutdown of the summer.
ANS September average production was comparable to May, and the highest since then. There is some reduction in production because compressors operate less efficiently in warmer weather, but the major factor was a lot of planned maintenance on the North Slope over the summer.
There were field shutdowns at the end of June due to planned trans-Alaska pipeline maintenance. In July there was major maintenance at Prudhoe Bay with two of the field’s seven processing centers offline a good part of the month and a planned shutdown at the Kuparuk River field of two of the field’s three central processing facilities.
See full story in Oct. 12 issue of Petroleum News, available to subscribers online at noon, Friday, Oct. 10 at www.PetroleumNews.com
