ANS September production up 13.3%North Slope crude oil volumes average 608,680 bpd, compared to 537,275 in August; largest volume increase from Prudhoe Bay field Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
With the exception of Endicott and Northstar, production at all Alaska North Slope oil fields was up in September over August. And August production was up over July as scheduled maintenance projects wound up.
ANS production averaged 608,680 barrels per day in September, up 13.3 percent from an August average of 537,275 bpd (compared to the July average of 462,407 bpd).
The largest volume increase was at the BP Exploration (Alaska)-operated Prudhoe Bay field, where production averaged 306,696 bpd in September, up 58,775 bpd (23.7 percent) over an August average of 247,921 bpd. Prudhoe Bay production includes satellites at Aurora, Borealis, Midnight Sun, Orion and Polaris.
The largest percentage increase month over month was at the BP-operated Lisburne field, which at 33,250 bpd was up 28.9 percent, or 7,458 bpd, from an August average of 25,792 bpd.
Except where noted, volumes are from the Alaska Department of Revenue’s Tax Division, which tracks oil production by major production centers and provides daily production and monthly averages.
Kuparuk, Alpine up Production at the ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Kuparuk River field averaged 137,968 bpd in September, up 3.6 percent from an August average of 133,145 bpd. Kuparuk production includes satellite production from Tabasco, Tarn, Meltwater and West Sak, and production from the Pioneer Natural Resources-operated Oooguruk and the Eni-operated Nikaitchuq fields.
Revenue’s Tax Division does not split out volumes for Nikaitchuq and Oooguruk in its published figures, but those volumes are available from the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission on a month-delay basis.
August figures from AOGCC for Nikaitchuq show a total of 196,442 barrels, an average of 6,337 bpd. AOGCC August figures for Oooguruk show a total of 186,161 barrels, or 6,005 bpd.
The ConocoPhillips-operated Alpine field averaged 83,509 bpd in September, up 2 percent from an August average of 81,849. Alpine includes satellite production from Fiord, Nanuq and Qannik.
Milne, Endicott, Northstar down BP’s Milne Point field averaged 22,312 bpd in September, down 0.45 percent from an August average of 22,413 bpd.
The BP-operated Endicott field averaged 12,359 bpd in September, down 1.6 percent from an August average of 12,558 bpd. Endicott includes production from the Badami field on the eastern North Slope.
AOGCC August production figures for Badami show a total of 35,430 barrels, some 1,143 bpd.
Production at the BP-operated Northstar field averaged 12,586 bpd in September, down 7.4 percent from an August average of 13,597.
The temperature at Pump Station 1 on the North Slope averaged 38.8 degrees F in September, down from an August average of 45.94 F.
Cook Inlet production up Cook Inlet production averaged 13,126 bpd in September, up 9.5 percent from an August average of 11,991 bpd. The September Cook Inlet volume is the highest Cook Inlet production has been since it averaged 13,438 bpd in October of 2008. Cook Inlet production has been in decline for more than four decades and the most recent eruptions at Redoubt Volcano, in March 2009, caused closure of the Drift River Terminal and a further drop in production. Inlet producers solved logistics issues for shipping west side production, and volumes stabilized. Cook Inlet Energy, which acquired assets of Pacific Energy Resources in Cook Inlet in late 2009, restarted production from the Osprey platform this summer. Production from the platform was shut down by the previous owner in mid-2009.
AOGCC August figures show Cook Inlet production coming from Beaver Creek (4,373 barrels for the month); Granite Point (53,710 barrels); McArthur River (119,100 barrels); Middle Ground Shoal (76,245 barrels); Redoubt Shoal (18,477 barrels); Swanson River (16,636 barrels); Trading Bay (14,459 barrels); and West McArthur River (28,730 barrels), a total of 331,730 barrels for August.
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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