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ANS July production down 13% from June
July average 416,357 bpd, down 55,826 bpd from June; Alpine down 24,013 bpd due to planned maintenance; inlet average 14,904 bpd
Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
Alaska North Slope production, crude oil and natural gas liquids, averaged 416,357 barrels per day in July, down 12.8 percent, 55,826 bpd, from a June average of 477,364 bpd, and down 4.7 percent from an average of 437,067 bpd in July of 2017.
The current month-over-month drop was triggered by summer maintenance shutdowns, with Alpine down completely for more than half of the month and overall Slope production slowed by a 12-hour shutdown of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline July 6.
Unless otherwise noted, production data is from the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which provides volumes by well on a month-delay basis.
Alpine, the ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Colville River unit, had the largest month-over-month per-barrel drop, averaging 24,013 bpd in July, down 61.7 percent, 38,625 bpd, from a June average of 62,638 bpd. The field was down 59 percent from a July 2017 average of 58,556 bpd.
This year’s decline was due to planned maintenance. ConocoPhillips told Petroleum News in June that “a major maintenance shutdown” was planned for Alpine in mid-July. The field went offline July 13 according to data from the Department of Revenue’s Tax Division; the restart began Aug. 13. In addition to oil from the main Alpine pool, Colville production includes satellite production from Fiord, Nanuq and Qannik.
The ExxonMobil Production-operated Point Thomson field had the largest month-over-month percentage drop, 94.2 percent, averaging 72 bpd in July, down 1,170 bpd from a June average of 1,242, and down 96 percent from a July 2017 average of 1,739 bpd. Facilities at Point Thomson were built to handle 10,000 bpd of condensate, but compressor problems have plagued the field, which came online in April 2016.
Prudhoe, Kuparuk The BP Exploration (Alaska)-operated Prudhoe Bay field, the North Slope’s largest, averaged 226,020 bpd in July, 191,327 bpd of crude and 34,693 bpd of NGLs, a combined drop of 5.2 percent, 12,422 bpd, from a July average of 238,442 bpd, but an increase of 9.2 percent over a July 2017 average of 207,028 bpd. Production from the Prudhoe Bay field includes Aurora, Borealis, Lisburne, Midnight Sun, Niakuk, Polaris, Point McIntyre, Put River, Raven and Schrader Bluff.
The ConocoPhillips-operated Kuparuk River field averaged 102,274 bpd in July, down 5.6 percent, 6,051 bpd, from an average of 108,325 bpd in June, and down 0.4 percent from a July 2017 average of 102,682 bpd. In addition to the main pool, Kuparuk produces from satellites at Meltwater, Tabasco and Tarn, and from West Sak.
Other Slope fields The Hilcorp Alaska-operated Milne Point field averaged 17,346 bpd in July, down 14.4 percent, 2,913 bpd, from a June average of 20,259 bpd, and down 14.5 percent from a July 2017 average of 20,296 bpd.
Nikaitchuq, operated by Eni, averaged 18,454 bpd in July, down 3.7 percent, 715 bpd, from a June average of 19,170, and down 12.4 percent from a July 2017 average of 21,070 bpd.
The Caelus Alaska-operated Oooguruk field averaged 9,696 bpd in July, down 9.9 percent, 1,062 bpd, from a June average of 10,758 bd, and down 1.4 percent from a June 2017 average of 9,831 bpd.
The Hilcorp-operated Endicott field averaged 6,619 bpd of crude and 649 bpd of NGLs in July, a combined 7,268 bpd, up 0.3 percent from a June combined average of 7,248, and up 2.2 percent from a July 2017 average of 7,113 bpd.
Northstar, also operated by Hilcorp, averaged 8,167 bpd of crude and 1,184 bpd of NGLs in July, a combined 9,351 bpd, up 33.7 percent from a June combined average of 6,996 bpd and up 18.6 percent from a July 2017 average of 7,885 bpd.
Badami, operated by Glacier Oil & Gas subsidiary Savant Alaska, averaged 1,862 bpd in July, down 14.6 percent, 318 bpd, from a June average of 2,180 bpd, but up 114.7 percent from a July 2017 average of 867 bpd.
Cook Inlet Cook Inlet averaged 14,904 bpd in July, marginally down from 14,914 bpd in June, and down 1.8 percent from a July 2017 average of 15,176 bpd.
Hilcorp-operated Beaver Creek averaged 84 bpd in July, up 26 percent from a June average of 67 bpd and down 96.3 percent from a July 2017 average of 177 bpd.
Granite Point, also operated by Hilcorp, averaged 2,846 bpd in July, down marginally from 2,848 bpd in June and up 21.5 percent from a July 2017 average of 2,343 bpd.
The BlueCrest operated Hansen field, the Cosmopolitan project, averaged 865 bpd in July, up 7.9 percent from a June average of 801 bpd and up 214.4 percent from a July 2017 average of 275 bpd.
Hilcorp’s McArthur River field, Cook Inlet’s largest, averaged 4,765 bpd in July, down 4.2 percent from a June average of 4,973 bpd and down 4.3 percent from a July 2017 average of 4,981 bpd.
Middle Ground Shoal, also operated by Hilcorp, averaged 1,219 bpd in July, up 26.6 percent from a June average of 963 bpd; the field had no production in July 2017.
Redoubt Shoal, a Glacier Oil & Gas field, averaged 1,287 bpd in July, up 2.2 percent from a June average of 1,260 bpd and down 35 percent from a July 2017 average of 1,980 bpd.
Hilcorp’s Swanson River field averaged 1,290 bpd in July, down 11.1 percent from a June average of 1,450 bpd, and down 34 percent from a July 2017 average of 1,953 bpd.
Trading Bay, also operated by Hilcorp, averaged 1,554 bpd in July, down 0.7 percent from a June average of 1,565 bpd and down 25.6 percent from a July 2017 average of 2,089 bpd.
Glacier’s West McArthur River field averaged 994 bpd in July, up 0.7 percent from a June average of 987 bpd and down 27.9 percent from a July 2017 average of 1,378 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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