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ANS July production down 16% from June Driven by planned maintenance Prudhoe Bay down 35%, largest drop; largest increase at Lisburne, up 182%, as maintenance ends there Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
With the summer maintenance season in full swing on Alaska’s North Slope, ANS crude oil production for July averaged 420,420 barrels per day, down 16 percent from a June average of 500,525 bpd, that volume a drop of 7.5 percent from May.
The largest month-to-month drop, 35.3 percent, was at the BP Exploration (Alaska)-operated Prudhoe Bay field, which averaged 190,543 bpd in July, down from 294,537 bpd in June.
BP Alaska spokeswoman Dawn Patience said the drop in Prudhoe production was due to planned maintenance, or “turnaround,” staggered from June to September.
“There are three major facilities undergoing turnaround this season,” Patience told Petroleum News in an email: “the Central Gas Facility, Gathering Center 2 and Flow Station 3.”
“These temporary facility shutdowns took more than two years to plan and take advantage of other planned pipeline shutdowns and the milder arctic climate,” she said.
July production data is from the Alaska Department of Revenue’s Tax Division which reports North Slope oil production consolidated by major production centers and provides daily production and monthly averages. More detailed data, including Cook Inlet and individual North Slope fields and pools, is reported by the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission on a month-delay basis.
Prudhoe Bay volumes include satellite production from Aurora, Borealis, Midnight Sun, Orion, Polaris, Sag River and Schrader Bluff, as well as production from the BP-operated Milne Point field. BP is in the process of selling a 50 percent interest in Milne Point to Hilcorp Alaska and that independent, currently Cook Inlet’s largest producer, will take over as operator at Milne Point when the sale closes, projected for the end of the year.
Production from Milne Point averaged 20,310 bpd in June, the latest month for which AOGCC data is available; that volume was basically flat, up just 0.5 percent, from a May average of 20,209 bpd.
Lisburne back online The BP-operated Lisburne facility, which includes production from Point McIntyre, Niakuk and Raven, had the largest month-over-month increase, 181.8 percent, averaging 24,815 bpd in July, up from 8,806 bpd in June, when the field was completely offline for the better part of two weeks, and had below-normal production for most of the rest of the month, due to turnaround. Lisburne is part of Greater Prudhoe Bay.
The ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Kuparuk River field also saw a month-over-month increase, up 8.33 percent to 146,833 bpd in July from 135,538 bpd in June. Kuparuk volumes include satellite production from Meltwater, Tabasco, Tarn and West Sak NEWS, s well s from the Eni-operated Nikaitchuq field and the Caelus Alaska-operated Oooguruk field.
Nikaitchuq averaged 23,563 bpd in June, up 8 percent from a May average of 21,813, which Oooguruk production averaged 4,623 bpd in June, down 64 percent from a May average of 13,012 bpd.
Other month-over-month declines Other areas for which North Slope production volumes are reported - BP-operated Endicott and ConocoPhillips-operated Alpine - also saw month-over-month declines.
Endicott averaged 9,074 bpd in July, down 1.2 percent from a June average of 9,183 bpd. Endicott production includes Eider, Minke and Raven, as well as the Savant-operated Badami field. Savant is in the process of being acquired by Miller Energy, parent company of Cook Inlet Energy, a deal expected to close in August.
AOGCC data for June shows Badami production at 1,087 bpd, down 3.3 percent from a May average of 1,124 bpd.
Alpine production averaged 49,155 bpd in July, down 6.3 percent from a June average of 52,461 bpd. Alpine production includes satellites Fiord, Nanuq and Qannik, all in the Colville River unit. A turnaround at Alpine will begin in late August and is estimated to take several days. Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. said the second scheduled long-duration summer shutdown of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline will take place Aug. 29-30.
Cook Inlet drops below 16,000 bpd Cook Inlet production dropped below 16,000 bpd for the first time since July 2013, averaging 15,394 bpd in June, down 4.23 percent from a May average of 16,073.
The largest month-over-month drop was at Middle Ground Shoal field, operated by ExxonMobil subsidiary XTO. That field averaged 604 bpd in June, down 70.3 percent from a May average of 2,033 bpd.
Cook Inlet Energy’s Redoubt Shoal field was also down month-over-month, averaging 1,118 bpd in June, down 9.8 percent from a May average of 1,239 bpd.
Other fields with month-over-month drops in production had minor declines: the Hilcorp Alaska-operated Beaver Creek field averaged 128 bpd in June, down 0.9 percent from a May average of 130 bpd; Cook Inlet Energy’s West McArthur River field averaged 1,287 bpd in June, down 0.5 percent from a May average of 1,294 bpd; and the Hilcorp-operated Trading Bay field averaged 2,560 bpd in June, down 0.3 percent from a May average of 2,567 bpd.
The largest month-over-month increase was at the Hilcorp-operated McArthur River field, Cook Inlet’s largest field, which averaged 4,894 bpd in June, up 20 percent from a May average of 4,082 bpd. Hilcorp’s Swanson River field averaged 2,075 bpd in June, up 3.6 percent from a May average of 2,002 bpd. Hilcorp’s Granite Point field was basically flat, averaging 2,727 bpd in June, up 0.04 percent from a May average of 2,725 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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