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ANS production down 9 percent from July Prudhoe down 38.1 percent, more than 115,000 bpd, in August; Alpine up 33.1 percent, aided by production from satellite Fiord Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
Despite the shutdown of half of Prudhoe Bay production starting Aug. 6, Alaska North Slope crude oil production for August averaged just a 9 percent drop from July. The 621,418 barrel-per-day August average compares to a 683,417 bpd July average. July production was down 13.77 percent from the June average of 792,592 bpd because of scheduled maintenance shutdown of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline.
Prudhoe Bay production, however, dropped 38 percent from July to August, averaging just 189,003 bpd compared to 305,427 bpd in July, a difference of some 116,424 bpd. The base Prudhoe figures include production from Midnight Sun, Aurora, Polaris, Borealis and Orion, all western Prudhoe satellites. Adding in Lisburne, which averaged 22,433 bpd in August, up 40 percent from a July average of 16,020 bpd, the BP Exploration (Alaska)-operated greater Prudhoe Bay area averaged 211,436 bpd in August compared to 321,447 bpd in July, a drop of 32.4 percent.
In addition to the shutdown of the eastern operating area which BP began Aug. 6 after more pipeline corrosion was identified, the company lost a gas compressor Aug. 23, which the Alaska Department of Revenue said caused an additional 50,000 bpd drop in production; the compressor came back on line Aug. 27. Prudhoe production (excluding Lisburne), which had been running at more than 170,000 bpd prior to the compressor problem, dropped to 122,459 barrels Aug. 23, 99,251 barrels Aug. 24, 102,755 barrels Aug. 25 and 104,458 barrels Aug. 26 before climbing back up to 165,066 barrels Aug. 27. Production was at 209,750 barrels Aug. 31.
BP said Sept. 1 that it had completed ultrasonic inspections of some 3,000 feet of pipe in the eastern operating area and approximately 5,300 feet of pipe in the western operating area. “To date, all of our inspections have found no integrity issues beyond those identified in the initial inline inspection,” the company said.
The BP-operated Endicott field averaged 7,644 bpd in August, down 58.8 percent from a July average of 18,573 bpd; Revenue said there is a scheduled planned turn-around at Endicott Aug. 9-Sept. 9.
Other fields up after maintenance Other North Slope fields had increases in production from July to August following the annual trans-Alaska pipeline maintenance shutdown.
BP’s Milne Point field had the largest July to August increase, averaging 38,643 bpd in August up 60.3 percent from a July average of 24,112. Revenue said Milne was down July 19-30 for maintenance.
The ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Alpine field averaged 129,290 bpd in August, up 33.1 percent from a July average of 97,118 bpd. Alpine satellite Fiord began production Aug. 8, with first oil reaching the Alpine central facilities Aug. 9. Production is expected to peak in 2008 at 22,500 bpd, with initial production in the 10,000-12,000 bpd range. A second Alpine satellite, Nanuq, is expected online later this year.
BP-operated Northstar averaged 55,934 bpd in August, up 9 percent from a July average of 51,339 bpd.
The ConocoPhillips-operated Kuparuk River field (which includes production from West Sak, Tabasco, Tarn, Meltwater and Palm) averaged 178,471 bpd, up 4.5 percent from a July average of 170,828.
The average temperature at Pump Station 1 on the North Slope was 42 degrees Fahrenheit, compared to a five-year average for August of 45 degrees F. The temperature in July averaged 48.5 degrees F.
Cook Inlet production averaged 16,723 bpd in August, down 1.2 percent from an August average of 16,922 bpd.
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