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ANS oil production up 5% month over month October averaged 538,206 bpd, up from 512,095 bpd in September; up 2.5% from October 2016; Cook Inlet up 8% September over August Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
Alaska North Slope crude oil production averaged 538,206 barrels per day in October, up 5.1 percent, 26,111 bpd, from a September average of 512,095 bpd, and up 2.5 percent from October 2016, when production averaged 525,033 bpd.
The largest month-over-month per-barrel increase was at the BP Exploration (Alaska)-operated Prudhoe Bay field, where volumes averaged 307,086 bpd in October, up 6.2 percent, 17,815 bpd, from a September average of 298,271 bpd and up 3 percent from October 2016 when the average was 298,075 bpd.
Prudhoe Bay as reported by the Alaska Tax Division includes satellite production from Aurora, Borealis, Midnight Sun, Orion, Polaris, Sag River, Schrader Bluff and Ugnu; the Hilcorp Alaska-operated Endicott, Milne Point and Northstar fields; Endicott satellite production at Eider, Minke and Sag Delta; from Badami, operated by Glacier Oil & Gas subsidiary Savant Alaska; and the ExxonMobil Production-operated Point Thomson field.
The Tax Division consolidates North Slope oil production by major facilities rather than reporting individual fields, providing 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.
The Tax Division has reported Endicott (including Eider, Minke and Sag Delta; Badami; and Point Thomson) as a separate item, but began reporting those volumes as part of its Prudhoe Bay category on Oct. 1.
AOGCC data show Badami averaged 833 bpd in September, down 3.9 percent from an August average of 867 bpd. Milne Point averaged 18,063 bpd in September, down 11 percent from an August average of 20,296 bpd, and Northstar averaged 7,419 bpd in September, up 7 percent from an August average of 6,929 bpd.
Point Thomson averaged 1,670 bpd in September, down 4 percent from an August average of 1,739 bpd.
ANS up overall Volumes combined under the ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Kuparuk River field averaged 140,563 bpd in October, up 3.7 percent, 5,046 bpd, from a September average of 135,517 bpd, down 2.1 percent from October 2016 when this category averaged 143,528 bpd.
Kuparuk barrels include satellite production from Meltwater, Tabasco, Tarn and West Sak, as well as from the Eni-operated Nikaitchuq field and the Caelus Alaska-operated Oooguruk field.
AOGCC data show Nikaitchuq averaged 19,867 bpd in September, down 5.9 percent from an August average of 21,202 bpd, while Oooguruk averaged 10,493 bpd in September, up 6.7 percent from an August average of 9,831 bpd.
Lisburne, operated by BP, averaged 25,970 bpd in October, up 12 percent, 2,784 bpd, from a September average of 23,186 bpd. Lisburne volumes include Niakuk, Point McIntyre and Raven.
ConocoPhillips-operated Alpine averaged 64,587 bpd in October, up 0.7 percent, 466 bpd, from a September average of 64,121 bpd and up 5.7 percent from an October 2016 average of 61,135 bpd. Alpine includes satellite production from Fiord, Nanuq and Qannik.
Cook Unlet up 8 percent With Hilcorp’s Middle Ground Shoal field coming back into production, crude oil from Cook Inlet averaged 15,898 bpd in September, up 8.2 percent from August, even though Middle Ground Shoal volumes for September were not back to what they had been before the Anna platform was shut down following a fuel gas leak discovered early in the year.
Hilcorp’s Beaver Creek field, Cook Inlet’s smallest, averaged 141 bpd in September, down 17.7 percent from an August average of 171 bpd.
Granite Point, also a Hilcorp field, averaged 2,339 bpd in September, up 0.7 percent from an August average of 2,322 bpd.
BlueCrest’s Hansen field, the Cosmopolitan project, averaged 316 bpd in September, down 8.1 percent from an August average of 344 bpd.
Hilcorp’s McArthur River field, Cook Inlet’s largest, averaged 5,699 bpd in September, up 12.7 percent from an August average of 5,056 bpd.
Middle Ground Shoal, which Hilcorp brought back online in September, averaged 652 bpd; the field averaged 1,750 bpd in January.
Glacier Oil & Gas’ Redoubt Shoal averaged 1,702 bpd in September, down 3.2 percent from an August average of 1,759 bpd.
Hilcorp’s Swanson River field averaged 1,848 bpd in September, up 3 percent from an August average of 1,795 bpd.
Trading Bay, also a Hilcorp field, averaged 1,990 bpd in September, down 0.5 percent from an August average of 2,001 bpd.
West McArthur River, a Glacier Oil & Gas field, averaged 1,210 bpd in September, down 2.9 percent from an August average of 1,246 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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