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October ANS oil production up 11 percent from September Three North Slope fields show substantial month-to-month increases: Northstar up 32 percent, Alpine up 28 percent, Prudhoe up l8 percent Kristen Nelson PNA Editor-in-Chief
Alaska North Slope crude oil production averaged 991,762 barrels per day in October, up 11.3 percent from a September average of 890,956 bpd, and up 10.6 percent from an October 2001 average of 903,463 bpd.
ANS production began in 1978 and peaked at 2.005 million bpd in 1988.
Prudhoe Bay production (including Midnight Sun, Aurora, Polaris and Borealis) averaged 478,199 bpd in October, up 17.7 percent from a September average of 406,262 bpd and up 6 percent from an October 2001 average of 451,209 bpd. The Alaska Department of Revenue said two-thirds of the wells taken off-line by Prudhoe Bay operator BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. are back into production, with Prudhoe production still down about 20,000 bpd.
BP Exploration (Alaska) took 137 wells off production at Prudhoe Bay in late August for testing after an explosion at A-22 which injured a worker. The company said Oct. 2 that 68 of the wells had been tested and approved for return to service, with 60 actually back in production as of Oct. 1. The impact on production at that time was about 20,000 bpd.
BP spokesman Paul Laird told PNA Nov. 1 that 94 of the original wells shut-in at Prudhoe Bay after the explosion have been returned to service. Laird said the daily production impact of the remaining shut-in wells is 10,000 barrels.
Production up at Northstar, Alpine "??? of a planned 48-hour shutdown at Northstar for pressure seal maintenance Oct. 29-30, the field averaged 59,995 bpd in October, up 32.1 percent from a September average of 45,419 bpd. Production began at Northstar in November 2001 and October’s production is second only to June (60,980 bpd). Northstar facilities are rated at 72,000 bpd and the field has had single-day production of more than 78,000 barrels.
Alpine averaged 101,81 bpd in October, up 28 percent from a September average of 79,081 bpd, when planned maintenance Sept. 2-9 had production offline for several days.
Production at Milne Point averaged 55,616 bpd in October, up 4.7 percent for a September average of 53,116 bpd, and the Lisburne production center (includes Point McIntyre, Niakuk, West Beach and North Prudhoe Bay State) held even, averaging 65,452 bpd in October compared to 65,192 bpd in September.
Kuparuk, Endicott production down Production at the Kuparuk River field (including West Sak, Tabasco, Tarn and Meltwater) averaged 207,233 bpd in October, down 2.9 percent from September’s average of 213,468 bpd.
Revenue said that a two-week slowdown (Oct. 4-16) at Endicott (including Sag River, Eider and Badami) is due to planned plant maintenance and will cause production to drop by 20,000 bpd. October production from the field averaged 24,086 bpd, down 15.2 percent from a September average of 28,418 bpd.
Cook Inlet production averaged 30,283 bpd in October, down 3 percent from a September average of 31,197 bpd. Prudhoe Bay natural gas liquids averaged 30,106 bpd in October, down 0.2 percent from a September average of 30,159 bpd.
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