North Slope production down 3% from March

Kristen Nelson

Petroleum News

Alaska North Slope crude oil production averaged 718,032 barrels per day in April, down 3.3 percent from a March average of 742,459 bpd. Prudhoe Bay, the slope’s largest field, had the largest per-barrel drop, down an average of 18,177 bpd from March; Northstar had the largest percentage drop, down 9.5 percent from March.

April production was in line with the Department of Revenue’s spring forecast shows, which shows ANS yearly averages of 720,000 bpd projected for fiscal year 2008, which ends in June; and a projected 689,000 bpd for FY 2009, which begins in July.

The BP-operated Northstar field, which averaged 31,741 bpd in March, dropped to 28,739 bpd in April. While the field’s daily rates ranged up to more than 33,000 barrels, production was only 218 barrels April 28; the field had no production April 29-30.

BP Exploration (Alaska) spokesman Steve Rinehart told Petroleum News May 2 that Northstar is in the middle of a big planned maintenance event. A number of systems and elements are being reworked or replaced and the field is expected to be back online within a few days, he said.

Production at the BP-operated Prudhoe Bay field averaged 305,860 bpd in April, down 5.6 percent from a March average of 324,037. Prudhoe production includes natural gas liquids; satellite production from Aurora, Borealis, Midnight Sun, Orion and Polaris; some 400-600 bpd from Lisburne; and Point McIntyre.

Greater Prudhoe Bay, which includes Lisburne (Lisburne and Niakuk production), and some 33,000 bpd of Flow Station 2 crude currently being shipped through the Endicott pipeline, averaged 378,408 bpd in April, down 4.23 percent from a March average of 395,141 bpd.

The relatively smaller decrease in Greater Prudhoe Bay production is due to Lisburne, which had a 3.8 percent production increase, averaging 39,548 bpd in April compared to 38,104 bpd in March.

Alpine averages 111,189 bpd

The BP-operated Endicott field averaged 48,207 bpd in April (this includes some 33,000 bpd of Prudhoe Bay FS-2 oil), down 1.5 percent from a March average of 48,924 bpd. In addition to the temporary FS-2 crude, Endicott includes Sag Delta and Eider production.

Production from the ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Kuparuk River field (including Tarn, Meltwater and West Sak production) averaged 149,441 bpd in April, down 1.4 percent from a March average of 151,502 bpd.

In addition to Lisburne, there was increased production at BP’s Milne Point field (including Sag River and Schrader Bluff production). Milne averaged 35,048 bpd in April, up 3 percent from a March average of 34,007 bpd.

The temperature at Pump Station No. 1 on the North Slope averaged 12.6 degrees Fahrenheit in April, compared to minus 17F in March, and compared to a five-year April average temperature of 2 F.

Cook Inlet production averaged 12,697 bpd in April, down 4 percent from a March average of 13,246 bpd.