Lease added to Oooguruk unit application
The state of Alaska terminated the 79,508 acre unit Slugger unit on May 16 because the owners of the eastern North Slope prospect had not met a commitment to drill the first Slugger unit well by May 15, state officials told Petroleum News May 28.
State Division of Oil and Gas Director Mark Myers notified unit operator BP Exploration (Alaska) by certified mail of the termination. He said the primary terms of 11 of the unit’s 14 leases have expired and had to be surrendered immediately, plus a drilling extension charge of a $430,000 was due by June 1.
Myers said two of the remaining Slugger leases have not expired and will continue in force until Aug. 15. Oil and gas lease ADL 389656, issued Dec. 1, 2001, with a seven year primary term, will expire Nov. 30, 2008, unless extended.
Note: The full story will appear in the June 1 Petroleum News newspaper.
ANS production tops 1 million barrels again in May
After dropping below the 1 million barrel-per-day mark in April, Alaska North Slope crude oil production averaged 1,006,545 barrels per day in May, up 1.8 percent from April production averaging 988,945 bpd.
Impacts on May North Slope production included downtime at Northstar, where valves were replaced in the gas-injection header May 6, and a system default led to a plant shutdown May 7. The Alaska Department of Revenue also reported that planned compressor work May 9-22 on the east side of Prudhoe Bay decreased total production from that field by about 40,000 bpd.
Prudhoe Bay production averaged 464,332 bpd in May, down 6.2 percent from the April average of 494,795 bpd, a 30,463 bpd difference.
Endicott production averaged 32,489 bpd, down 2.4 percent from an April average of 33,282 bpd.
All other North Slope fields had increased production, May over April, led by Northstar which averaged 66,559 bpd, up 47.4 percent over an April average of 45,156 bpd.
Lisburne production averaged 65,973 bpd in May, up 43.3 percent from an April average of 46,042 bpd.
Kuparuk River field production averaged 219,963 bpd in May, up 3.2 percent from the April average of 213,175 bpd.
Milne Point production averaged 52,884 bpd in May, up 0.8 percent from April's average of 52,448 bpd.
Alpine averaged 104,345 bpd in May, up 0.3 percent from an April average of 104,047 bpd.
Cook Inlet production averaged 28,851 bpd in April, down 1.4 percent from a May average of 29,255 bpd.
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