Alaska North Slope crude oil production for December averaged 729,948 barrels per day, down 3.7 percent from a November average of 758,099 bpd, the drop driven by weather delays in loading crude oil in Valdez at the end of December.
The Alaska Department of Revenue described the production downturn as a trans-Alaska oil pipeline proration due to weather in Valdez from Dec. 27-Dec. 31.
Production is coming back up slowly, with an ANS rate of 598,607 bpd for Jan. 1, up from 413,610 bpd Dec. 30. ANS production began the month of December at 758,096 bpd and peaked at 780,492 bpd for the month on Dec. 5.
The BP Exploration (Alaska)-operated Prudhoe Bay field had the largest per-barrel production drop from November to December, more than 10,000 bpd, averaging 361,262 bpd in December, down 2.9 percent from a November average of 372,078 bpd.
The BP-operated Northstar field had the largest percentage drop, 10 percent, averaging 26,909 bpd in December compared to 29,884 bpd in November.
Endicott, also operated by BP, averaged 14,287 bpd in December, down 8.9 percent from a November average of 15,689 bpd. Production at BP’s Milne Point field averaged 30,265 bpd in December, down 4.8 percent from a November average of 31,802 bpd. The BP-operated Lisburne field averaged 36,156 bpd in December, down 4.4 percent from a November average of 37,829 bpd.
The ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Alpine field averaged 109,923 bpd in December, down 3.8 percent from a November average of 114,255 bpd. Production at the ConocoPhillips-operated Kuparuk River field averaged 151,146 bpd in December, down 3.5 percent from a November average of 156,562 bpd.
Cook Inlet crude oil production averaged 12,771 bpd in December, down 1 percent from a November average of 12,903 bpd.
Editor’s note: See full story in Jan. 11 issue of Petroleum News, available online at noon, Jan. 9.
