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ANS production down 3.2% from March Biggest drop at Prudhoe Bay, where injection compressors were down at central gas facility for 48 hours; Cook Inlet up slightly Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
Alaska North Slope crude oil production for April was down 3.24 percent from March, averaging 546,087 barrels per day compared to 564,350 bpd in March.
The largest drop was at the BP Exploration (Alaska)-operated Prudhoe Bay field, down 5.17 percent month-over-month, with the main driver a temporary equipment shutdown at the Central Gas Facility. BP spokeswoman Dawn Patience told Petroleum News in an email that there was “a temporary shutdown of the injector compressors system” at the CGF April 22. “The injector compressors system was completely restarted within 48 hours. There were no additional temporary impacts beyond the CGF injection compressors,” Patience said.
Prudhoe Bay produced 323,697 barrels April 21, dropped to 225,885 barrels April 22 and 247,549 barrels April 23, with production climbing back to 323,680 barrels April 26.
The April Prudhoe average was 315,826 bpd compared to 333,043 bpd in March.
Prudhoe Bay includes satellite production from Aurora, Borealis, Midnight Sun, Orion and Polaris, as well as production from the BP-operated Northstar and Milne Point fields.
Except where noted, North Slope volumes are from the Alaska Department of Revenue’s Tax Division, which reports oil production consolidated by major production centers and provides daily production and monthly averages for the most recent month.
The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which reports production on a month delay basis, details that production by field and by pools within fields.
Kuparuk production also down Production from the ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Kuparuk River field averaged 128,651 bpd in April, down 0.9 percent from a March average of 129,789 bpd. Kuparuk production includes satellite production from Meltwater, Tabasco, Tarn and West Sak, as well as production from the Nikaitchuq and Oooguruk fields.
AOGCC data show that the Eni-operated Nikaitchuq field averaged 11,348 bpd in March, up 9.5 percent from a February average of 10,359 bpd, while the Pioneer Natural Resources Alaska-operated Oooguruk field averaged 5,800 bpd in March, down 3.4 percent from an average of 6,001 bpd in February.
The BP-operated Endicott field averaged 10,175 bpd in April, up 27.3 percent from a March average of 7,991 bpd. Endicott had a steep drop in production in March, down 16.9 percent due to maintenance which began in February and continued into March. The field was back at normal production rates, above 10,000 bpd, by mid-March, and was at around that volume through most of April.
Endicott includes production from the Savant Alaska-operated Badami field, which averaged 1,232 bpd in March, up 6.3 percent from a February average of 1,160 bpd.
The BP-operated Lisburne field averaged 27,605 bpd in April, down 1.5 percent from a March average of 28,026 bpd. Lisburne includes production from Point McIntyre and Niakuk.
The ConocoPhillips-operated Alpine field averaged 63,830 bpd in April, down 2.6 percent from a March average of 65,501 bpd. Alpine includes satellite production from Fiord, Nanuq and Qannik.
Cook Inlet Cook Inlet crude oil production, reported by AOGCC on a month delay basis, averaged 12,574 bpd in March, up 0.5 percent from a February average of 12,516 bpd.
The largest increase was at the Hilcorp Alaska-operated Swanson River field, which averaged 2,374 bpd in March, up 13.6 percent from a February average of 2,089 bpd.
Among other larger-volume fields (only four in the basin produce more than a thousand barrels a day), Middle Ground Shoal, operated by ExxonMobil-subsidiary XTO, averaged 2,196 bpd in March, up 0.2 percent from a February average of 2,191 bpd.
The Hilcorp-operated Granite Point and McArthur River fields both saw production declines, a 2.1 percent drop at McArthur River to 4,124 bpd from 4,213 bpd in February, and a 2.7 percent drop at Granite Point to 2,208 bpd from 2,270 bpd in February.
Among the smaller Cook Inlet basin fields, the Cook Inlet Energy-operated West McArthur River field averaged 657 bpd in March, up 5.8 percent from a February average of 621 bpd; the Hilcorp-operated Trading Bay field averaged 681 bpd in March, up 0.6 percent from a February average of 677 bpd; the Cook Inlet Energy-operated Redoubt Shoal field averaged 223 bpd in March, down 30.7 percent from a February average of 322 bpd; and the Hilcorp-operated Beaver Creek field averaged 112 bpd, down 16.9 percent from a February average of 135 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.
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