ANS March crude steady from February

Oooguruk, Nikaitchuq volumes tip month-over-month volumes into positive; all other North Slope field production volumes show drop

Kristen Nelson

Petroleum News

Alaska North Slope crude oil production for March was about level with February, averaging 635,354 barrels per day, up just 0.1 percent from an average of 634,684 bpd, with production from Nikaitchuq and Oooguruk accounting for the positive March-over-February levels.

Except where noted, volumes cited here are from the Alaska Department of Revenue’s Tax Division, which reports oil production by major production centers and provides daily production and monthly averages.

Revenue does not break out production from the Pioneer Natural Resources Alaska-operated Oooguruk field or the Eni-operated Nikaitchuq field, but includes them as part of Kuparuk River field production. Nikaitchuq and Oooguruk volumes are available from the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission on a month delay: February monthly Nikaitchuq volumes from the commission break down to an average of 4,508 bpd — all from the Schrader Bluff formation; numbers for Oooguruk break down to 8,526 bpd, primarily from the Kuparuk and Nuiqsut formations but with one well producing from the Torok.

The ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Kuparuk River field (including volumes from Oooguruk and Nikaitchuq), had a March-over-February increase of 4.35 percent, up 5,782 barrels, with average production of 138,569 bpd in March compared to an average of 132,814 bpd in February. In addition to Oooguruk and Nikaitchuq, which are outside Kuparuk, volumes include Kuparuk satellite production from Tabasco, Tarn, Meltwater and West Sak.

Nikaitchuq production is a recent addition as the field came online at the end of January; Oooguruk began production in June 2008.

All other volumes reported by Revenue were down.

The BP Exploration (Alaska)-operated Prudhoe Bay field averaged 327,257 bpd in March, down 0.2 percent from a February average of 327,924 bpd. Prudhoe volumes include satellite production at Aurora, Borealis, Midnight Sun, Orion and Polaris.

BP’s Milne Point field averaged 25,192 bpd in March, down 1.2 percent from a February average of 25,489 bpd.

The ConocoPhillips-operated Alpine field, the farthest west on the North Slope, averaged 80,734 bpd in March, down 2.3 percent from a February average of 82,641 bpd. Alpine includes Fiord, Nanuq and Qannik satellite production.

The BP-operated Northstar field averaged 17,621 bpd in March, down 2.8 percent from a February average of 18,124 bpd. The BP-operated Endicott field averaged 13,538 bpd in March, down 3.44 percent from a February average of 14,020 bpd. Endicott includes production from Badami, which was restarted by Savant Resources in partnership with Arctic Slope Regional Corp. in November. AOGCC figures for February break down to an average of 1,260 bpd from Badami, which is the farthest east producing field on the North Slope.

The BP-operated Lisburne field averaged 34,416 bpd in March, down 3.7 percent from a February average of 33,572. Lisburne includes production from Point McIntyre and Niakuk.

The average temperature at Pump Station 1 on the North Slope was minus 4.77 degrees F in March, compared to minus 5.32 in February.

Cook Inlet production averaged 11,262 bpd in March, up 11.7 percent from a February average of 10,083 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.