|
Pipeline shutdown impacts ANS production
Alaska North Slope crude oil production averaged 588,921 barrels per day in May, down 8.6 percent from an April average of 644,509 bpd, driven primarily by five days of prorated production while the trans-Alaska oil pipeline was closed down following a 5,000 barrel oil spill into a containment area at Pump Station 9 south of Fairbanks.
Alaska Department of Revenue data show North Slope production dropped to 391,769 bpd on May 25 and bottomed out at 50,840 bpd May 27 before returning to a normal level of 675,339 bpd May 30.
Crude oil was going into storage tanks while the line was shutdown
All fields had reduced production in May compared to April except the BP Exploration (Alaska)-operated Northstar field, one of the smallest, which showed an increase. That occurred because Northstar was offline April 16-20 due to maintenance, so its production averaged only 15,558 bpd in April, well below the March average of 20,298 bpd.
The field averaged 16,634 bpd in May, up 6.92 percent from April, but down 18 percent from the field’s March production.
Prudhoe down most barrels The largest per-barrel April to May drop was at the North Slope’s largest field, the BP-operated Prudhoe Bay field, which averaged 288,130 bpd in May, down an average of 27,056 bpd from an April average of 315,186 bpd, a drop of 8.58 percent. Prudhoe production includes satellite fields at Aurora, Borealis, Midnight Sun, Orion and Polaris.
The largest percentage drop was at BP’s Milne Point field, which averaged 24,526 bpd in May, down 17.48 percent from an April average of 29,722 bpd. Milne Point production includes heavy oil from the Schrader Bluff formation.
Production at the BP-operated Lisburne field averaged 27,677 bpd in May, down 11.52 percent from an April average of 31,280 bpd. Lisburne production includes Point McIntyre and Niakuk.
The ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Alpine field averaged 88,087 bpd in May, down 11.15 percent from an April average of 99,144 bpd. Alpine includes satellite production from Fiord, Nanuq and Qannik.
The BP-operated Endicott field averaged 12,025 bpd in May, down 8.4 percent from an April average of 13,128 bpd.
Alpine has smallest percentage drop The ConocoPhillips-operated Kuparuk River field averaged 131,842 bpd in May, down 6.16 percent from an April average of 140,491 bpd. Kuparuk includes satellite production from Tabasco, Tarn, Meltwater and West Sak, as well as production from the Pioneer Natural Resources Alaska-operated Oooguruk field. May production figures from Oooguruk are not available, but Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation data for April show production from the field averaging about 12,000 bpd.
The temperature at Pump Station 1 on the North Slope averaged 25 degrees Fahrenheit in May, up from an average of 14.9 F in April.
Cook Inlet crude oil production averaged 10,184 bpd in May, up 3.32 percent from an April average of 9,857 bpd.
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.
—Kristen Nelson
|
