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Prudhoe crude output down 10% in June
Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
Greater Prudhoe Bay production (including Lisburne) was down 10.6 percent in June, averaging 343,551 barrels per day compared to 384,291 bpd in May. Lisburne dropped only 1.4 percent, averaging 19,982 bpd in June vs. 20,270 bpd in May, with the bulk of the drop coming from Prudhoe, which averaged only 290,569 bpd for the month, down 12.2 percent from a May average of 331,021 bpd.
Prudhoe production, which began the month at 347,160 bpd, dropped as low as 230,313 bpd June 8, staying below 300,000 bpd until June 23 and ending the month at 320,084 bpd. Both fields are operated by BP.
BP Alaska spokesman Daren Beaudo told Petroleum News nothing unusual was happening. The drop in production was due to “summer turnaround season and normal summer field variability,” he said. ConocoPhillips, a major Prudhoe Bay owner, and the operator at the Kuparuk River and Alpine fields, said in its second-quarter update July 3 that production for the quarter was expected to be lower for several reasons, including “seasonality in Alaska.”
The Alaska Department of Revenue’s Tax Division attributed the Prudhoe reduction to scheduled and unscheduled maintenance. Warmer summer temperatures are also a factor: Production drops in the summer because compressors operate less efficiently at warmer temperatures.
Greater Prudhoe accounts for more than 40 percent of Alaska North Slope production, so the Prudhoe drop also drove an ANS drop, down 7.1 percent to 724,638 bpd in June from 780,369 bpd in May. Prudhoe production includes the field’s western satellites, Midnight Sun, Aurora, Polaris, Borealis and Orion. The Prudhoe Bay total also includes some 33,000 bpd currently being transported through the Endicott pipeline.
Total ANS production dropped on average 55,731 bpd between May and June; Greater Prudhoe accounted for 40,740 bpd of that drop.
All fields except Milne down All fields on the North Slope except Milne Point, which had a marginal increase, had declining production from May to June.
BP-operated Northstar averaged 40,413 bpd in June, down 7.3 percent from a May average of 43,587 bpd.
The ConocoPhillips-operated Kuparuk River field, which includes satellite production from West Sak, Tabasco, Tarn, Meltwater and Palm, averaged 152,814 bpd in June, down 4.2 percent from a May average of 159,554 bpd.
The BP-operated Endicott field, which currently includes 33,000 bpd of Prudhoe Bay oil, averaged 47,357 bpd in June, down 3.2 percent from 48,941 bpd in May.
The ConocoPhillips-operated Alpine field, which includes production from Fiord and Nanuq, averaged 135,459 bpd in June, down 2.5 percent from a May average of 138,984 bpd.
BP’s Milne Point field averaged 38,044 bpd in June, up 0.08 percent from a May average of 38,012 bpd.
The June temperature at Pump Station 1 on the North Slope averaged 41.7 degrees Fahrenheit compared to a May average of 22.6 degrees F.
Cook Inlet crude oil production averaged 15,826 bpd, down 0.7 percent from a May average of 15,931 bpd.
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