Month-over-month ANS production down 1.2 percent

ANS crude oil averages 560,964 bpd in January, down from 567,600 in December; Cook Inlet edges up 1% to 16,888 bpd in December

Kristen Nelson

Petroleum News

January crude oil production from Alaska’s North Slope averaged 560,964 barrels per day in January, down 1.17 percent from a December average of 567,600 bpd, a drop of 6,636 bpd.

All North Slope fields, except Endicott, saw month-over-month declines ranging from a drop of 2.87 percent at Lisburne to 0.35 percent at Prudhoe Bay.

January information is 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.

The BP Exploration (Alaska)-operated Prudhoe Bay field, the North Slope’s largest, averaged 327,593 bpd in January, down 0.35 percent from a December average of 328,739 bpd, a drop of 1,146 bpd. Prudhoe Bay production includes satellite production at Aurora, Borealis, Midnight Sun, Orion and Polaris, as well as production from the BP-operated Milne Point and Northstar fields.

Nikaitchuq up in December

AOGCC data for December shows Nikaitchuq production averaged 18,744 bpd, up 15.57 percent (2,526 bpd) from a November average of 16,218 bpd, while Oooguruk averaged 6,965 bpd in December, down 1.14 percent (80 bpd) from a November average of 7,045 bpd.

The ConocoPhillips-operated Alpine field averaged 56,079 bpd in January, down 2.35 percent (1,347 bpd) from a December average of 57,426 bpd. Alpine accounted for 66 percent of the field’s production in December; there is also production from three satellites — Fiord, Nanuq and Qannik.

The BP-operated Lisburne field, part of greater Prudhoe Bay, averaged 28,127 bpd in January, down 2.87 percent (830 bpd) from December production of 28,957 bpd. Lisburne production includes Point McIntyre and Niakuk.

The BP-operated Endicott field averaged 11,065 bpd in January, up 3.74 percent (399 bpd) from a December average of 10,555 bpd. Endicott production includes the Savant-operated Badami field. AOGCC data for December shows Badami production at 1,222 bpd, down 1.43 percent (18 bpd) from November production of 1,240 bpd.

Cook Inlet edges up 1%

Cook Inlet’s largest field, Hilcorp Alaska-operated McArthur River, averaged 4,523 bpd in December, up 4.19 percent from a November average of 4,341 bpd.

Hilcorp-operated Trading Bay averaged 2,662 bpd in December, up 5.96 percent from a November average of 75,361 bpd. Granite Point, also operated by Hilcorp, averaged 2,407 bpd in December, up 2.87 percent from a November average of 2,340 bpd.

Hilcorp-operated Swanson River averaged 2,269 bpd in December, up 3.03 percent from a November average of 2,203 bpd.

Middle Ground Shoal, operated by ExxonMobil subsidiary XTO, averaged 2,096 bpd in December, down 6.7 percent from a November average of 2,246 bpd.

Redoubt Shoal, operated by Cook Inlet Energy, averaged 1,593 bpd in December, down 20.71 percent from a November average of 2,009 bpd. West McArthur River, also operated by Cook Inlet Energy, averaged 1,190 bpd in December, up 31.83 percent from a November average of 903 bpd.

Hilcorp-operated Beaver Creek averaged 148 bpd in December, unchanged from November.

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.