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ANS July production down 14% from June Driven by scheduled Alyeska maintenance shutdown of line July 22-23, North Slope crude production averages 684,417 bpd By Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
Driven by a scheduled maintenance shutdown of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, Alaska North Slope crude oil production for July averaged 683,417 barrels per day, down 13.77 percent from a June average of 792,592 bpd.
This was prior to the shutdown of the Prudhoe Bay field which began Aug. 6 (see story page 6 of this issue).
There were two maintenance shutdowns the summer of 2005, one in June and one in July: production went from an average of 923,882 bpd in May 2005 to 863,755 bpd in June (a 6.51 percent drop) and then to 807,255 bpd in July (a further 6.54 percent drop).
That’s still a 100,000-bpd difference between July 2005 and July 2006, although on an annual average the drop isn’t quite so steep.
The current 12-month average for ANS production (August 2005 through July 2006) is 823,899 bpd, down 9 percent from the previous 12-month average (August 2004 through July 2005) of 907,432 bpd. That average was a 6 percent drop from the previous 12-month average (August 2003 through July 2004) of 961,804 bpd. The difference between the 2003-04 average and the 2005-06 average is 14.5 percent.
The Department of Revenue’s spring forecast showed average ANS production for fiscal year 2005 at 917,000 bpd. The department’s forecast was 854,000 bpd for FY ’06, declining to 825,000 bpd in FY ’07, 803,000 bpd in FY ’08 and reaching 732,000 bpd in FY ’15. Milne down for maintenance The BP Exploration (Alaska)-operated Milne Point field (which includes Schrader Bluff production) had the largest month-to-month percentage drop in production, down 37.9 percent from June to July. The Department of Revenue said Milne Point shut in at midnight July 19 for maintenance.
That was ahead of the maintenance shutdown Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. began at 6 a.m. July 22 for the trans-Alaska pipeline. Alyeska restarted the pipeline at approximately 1:30 p.m. July 23, following scheduled maintenance which included replacement of Check Valve 109 near the Klutina River, installation of a check valve at Pump Station 10 and valve testing near Atigun Pass. Some 30 other work tasks were performed at pump stations and at the Valdez Marine Terminal during the shutdown, Alyeska said.
Milne began to ramp down its production July 19, was without production for seven days, and ramped back up slowly, although it had yet to reach pre-shutdown rates by the end of July. Production from the field averaged 24,112 bpd in July, down from 38,800 bpd in June. Prudhoe production down 17.2 percent Production at BP-operated Prudhoe Bay field (including satellites Midnight Sun, Aurora, Polaris, Borealis and Orion) averaged 305,427 bpd in July, down 17.2 percent from a June average of 369,005 bpd.
Alpine, operated by ConocoPhillips Alaska, averaged 97,118 bpd in July, down 16.3 percent from a June average of 116,077 bpd. Alpine production ramped down July 21 and the field had no production July 22-24, then began ramping back up July 25.
The BP-operated Endicott field (which includes Sag Delta, Eider and Badami) averaged 18,573 bpd in July, down 8.96 percent from a June average of 20,402 bpd.
BP’s Northstar averaged 51,339 bpd in July, down 8.6 percent from a June average of 56,142 bpd.
The ConocoPhillips-operated Kuparuk field (including satellites West Sak, Tabasco, Tarn, Meltwater and Palm) averaged 170,828 bpd in July, down 3.4 percent from a June average of 176,858 bpd.
Lisburne, operated by BP, was the only field on the North Slope where production increased from June to July. The field averaged 16,020 bpd in July, up 4.7 percent from a June average of 15,308 bpd. Lisburne production includes Point McIntyre and Niakuk.
The North Slope temperature averaged 48.5 degrees Fahrenheit in July, compared to a five-year average for July of 46.7 degrees F.
Cook Inlet production averaged 16,922 bpd in July, down 2.6 percent from a June average of 17,370 bpd.
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