BP’s Northstar oil field returned to production in early March, after having been shutdown in mid-February, a shutdown which dropped Alaska North Slope oil production to an average of 774,837 barrels per day for February, a 2.67 percent drop from the January average of 796,121 bpd.
Northstar came back up late March 6, BP Exploration (Alaska) spokesman Daren Beaudo told Petroleum News. He said that as of the morning of March 7, the production rate at Northstar was back up to 33,000 bpd.
Northstar production averaged 44,234 bpd for the first 16 days of February; the overall monthly average was 27,013 bpd, a 42.8 percent drop from January average production of 47,192 bpd.
Northstar came online in 2001 and its production peaked at more than 68,000 bpd in 2004. Cumulative production through the end of January was 109.9 million barrels, some 20 million barrels from federal leases at the field and the bulk from state leases.
The field was shut down after discovery of a pinhole leak in an eight-inch discharge pipe in the field’s gas compression facility. The low-pressure system piping connects different compression and cooling processes.
Beaudo said the piping replaced consists of 60 feet of third stage (8-inch) and 120 feet of second stage (14-inch) pipe.
Prudhoe up half a percent
Production from the BP-operated Lisburne field averaged 20,816 bpd in February, up 4.4 percent from a January average of 19,935 bpd. Lisburne production includes Point McIntyre and Niakuk.
Endicott production, which includes some 33,000 bpd of Prudhoe Bay Flow Station 2 crude, averaged 51,969 bpd, up 4 percent from a January average of 49,945 bpd. Endicott is operated by BP; production includes Sag Delta, Eider and Badami.
Prudhoe Bay averaged 352,522 bpd in February, up 0.5 percent from a January average of 350,871 bpd. BP operates Prudhoe Bay; production includes the field’s western satellites, Midnight Sun, Aurora, Polaris, Borealis and Orion.
Greater Prudhoe Bay area production (including Lisburne and the estimated 33,000 bpd moving through the Endicott line) averaged 406,338 bpd in February, up 0.6 percent from a January average of 403,806 bpd.
Production at BP’s Milne Point field averaged 29,681 bpd in February, down 5 percent from a January average of 31,255 bpd. Milne Point production includes Schrader Bluff.
Production from the ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Kuparuk River field averaged 164,626 bpd in February, down 1.8 percent from a January average of 167,711 bpd. Kuparuk production includes West Sak, Tabasco, Tarn, Meltwater and Palm.
The ConocoPhillips-operated Alpine field averaged 128,210 bpd in February, down 0.8 percent from a January average of 129,212 bpd. Alpine production includes Fiord and Nanuq.
The temperature at Pump Station 1 on the North Slope averaged minus 10.2 degrees Fahrenheit in February compared to a five-year average of minus 10.3 degrees F. The temperature in January averaged minus 13.4 degrees F.
Cook Inlet production averaged 15,530 bpd in February, down 1.4 percent from a January average of 15,746 bpd.
