|
ANS production up 1.6% month-over-month December average 546,388 bpd, up from 537,664 bpd; but down 3.7% from 567,600 bpd in December ’13; Cook Inlet production down 5% Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
Alaska North Slope crude oil production averaged 546,388 barrels per day in December, up 1.62 percent from a November average of 537,664 bpd, but down 3.74 percent year-over-year from a December 2013 average of 567,600 bpd.
Most volumes reported by the Alaska Department of Revenue - Endicott, Kuparuk, Lisburne, Prudhoe Bay - were up month-over-month. Revenue’s Tax Division reports ANS production consolidated by major production centers, with 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.
Volumes for Endicott, operated by Hilcorp Alaska, averaged 9,847 bpd in December, up 8.23 percent (749 bpd) from a November average of 9,098 bpd. Endicott includes production from Sag Delta, Eider, Minke and the Badami field, operated by Savant Alaska. Miller Energy Resources, which owns Cook Inlet Energy, closed on the acquisition of Savant Alaska in December. AOGCC November data for Badami show production of 1,010 bpd, down 2.5 percent, 26 bpd, from an October average of 1,036 bpd.
December production from BP Exploration (Alaska)-operated Lisburne, part of greater Prudhoe Bay, averaged 24,900 bpd, up 7.54 percent (1,745 bpd) from a November average of 23,155. Lisburne production includes Point McIntyre, Niakuk and Raven.
Prudhoe up 2.3% December production from the BP-operated Prudhoe Bay field averaged 320,919 bpd, up 2.3 percent (7,214 bpd) from a November average of 313,705 bpd. Prudhoe volumes include satellite production from Aurora, Borealis, Midnight Sun, Orion, Polaris, Sag River, Schrader Bluff and Ugnu, as well as from the Hilcorp Alaska-operated Milne Point and Northstar fields.
AOGCC data for November show Milne Point production at 24,431 bpd, up 34.4 percent, 6,254 bpd, from an October average of 18,177 bpd. Northstar, also operated by Hilcorp, averaged 9,155 bpd in November, up 4.8 percent, 421 bpd, from an October average of 8,735 bpd.
The ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Kuparuk River field averaged 142,477 bpd in December, up 0.05 percent, 77 bpd, from a November average of 142,400 bpd. Kuparuk includes satellite production from Meltwater, Northeast West Sak, Tabasco, Tarn and West Sak, as well as from the Eni-operated Nikaitchuq field and the Caelus Alaska-operated Oooguruk field.
AOGCC data show Oooguruk production at 12,802 bpd in November, down 10.67 percent, 1,529 bpd, from an October average of 14,330 bpd, and Nikaitchuq production at 24,431 bpd in November, up 1.11 percent, 268 bpd, from an October average of 24,163 bpd. Nikaitchuq and Oooguruk combined account for nearly 26 percent of the volumes reported under Kuparuk by Revenue, while Milne Point and Northstar account for nearly 11 percent of the volumes reported under Prudhoe Bay.
Alpine production down The ConocoPhillips-operated Alpine field was the only North Slope area reported by Revenue as showing a month-over-month decline, averaging 48,245 bpd in December, down 2.2 percent from a November average of 49,306. Alpine includes production from satellites at Fiord, Nanuq and Qannik, with the main Alpine field accounting for 67 percent of the field’s production.
Cook Inlet down 5% Cook Inlet production averaged 17,894 bpd in November, down 5 percent from an October average of 18,836 bpd and the first time since July that the basin has produced an average of fewer than 18,000 bpd.
Only two fields had month-over-month production increases, Beaver Creek and Trading Bay, both operated by Hilcorp Alaska.
Beaver Creek, Cook Inlet’s smallest field, averaged 119 bpd in November, up 1 percent from an October average of 118 bpd. Trading Bay, Cook Inlet’s second-largest field, averaged 3,353 bpd in November, up 1.5 percent from an October average of 3,303 bpd.
Cook Inlet Energy’s two oil fields, Redoubt Shoal and West McArthur River, had the largest month-over-month production declines, 26.6 percent and 19.4 percent respectively. Redoubt Shoal produced 757 bpd in November, down 274 bpd from an October average of 1,031 bpd, while West McArthur River produced 1,340 bpd in November, down 322 bpd from an October average of 1,662 bpd.
Production at Hilcorp’s McArthur River field, the inlet’s largest, averaged 5,311 bpd in November, down 5.45 percent, 306 bpd, from an October average of 5,617 bpd.
Middle Ground Shoal, operated by ExxonMobil subsidiary XTO, averaged 1,947 bpd in November, down 2.9 percent, 58 bpd, from an October average of 2,005 bpd.
Two Hilcorp-operated fields had the smallest month-over-month declines: Granite Point averaged 2,777 bpd, down 0.82 percent, 23 bpd, from an October average of 2,800 bpd, and Swanson River averaged 2,291 bpd in November, down 0.41 percent, 9 bpd, from 2,300 bpd in October.
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.
|
