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Loading slowdowns cut production 1.5% Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. slowed flow rates in mid-month as Valdez Marine Terminal storage hit 6.3 million barrels Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
Two slowdowns on the trans-Alaska oil pipeline in January — requests by Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. to producers to reduce production — resulted in a 1.5 percent Alaska North Slope oil production drop from December to January.
ANS production averaged 796,121 barrels per day in January, compared to 808,129 bpd in December.
There was a two-hour slowdown Jan. 9 due to a pipeline leak found south of Pump Station 4 near Atigun Pass, the Department of Revenue’s Tax Division reported.
A significant slowdown lasted several days, Jan. 17-21, and was in response to Valdez inventories, which peaked Jan. 21 at 6.3 million barrels of 7.1 million barrels of storage capacity.
Tankers were not arriving on schedule to pick up the oil after two BP tankers lost anchors in rough seas in December.
BP spokesman Daren Beaudo told the Anchorage Daily News that two of its tankers, the Alaskan Navigator and the Alaskan Frontier, were each outfitted with two new anchors. The ships each lost one of two anchors in turbulent seas in the Gulf of Alaska in December and were held for repairs, along with BP’s other two double-hull tankers.
The U.S. Coast Guard said in a Jan. 22 statement that the Alaskan Navigator and Alaskan Frontier had been outfitted with new anchors and were back in service, while two other tankers, the Alaskan Legend and Alaskan Explorer each had a new temporary anchor installed and are operating under restrictions outlined by the Coast Guard.
“All four tankers were in port in Valdez picking up cargo last week,” Beaudo said Jan. 29.
Valdez inventories dropped to 4.5 million barrels on Jan. 23, and to 3.1 million barrels Jan. 24, and ended the month at 3.1 million barrels, with a daily average of 4.4 million barrels, compared to a 3.4 million average inventory level in December and 4.2 million in November, when ANS production was also slowed due to tanker delays, this weather related, and Alyeska was also forced to slow oil flow.
Prudhoe down 2.5 percent BP Exploration (Alaska)-operated Prudhoe Bay production averaged 350,871 bpd in January, down 2.9 percent from a December average of 361,175 bpd. BP-operated Lisburne, part of the greater Prudhoe field, averaged 19,935 bpd in January, down 0.5 percent from a December average of 20,031 bpd. Some 33,000 bpd of Prudhoe production from Flow Station 2 is currently moving on the Endicott pipeline, so adding in that estimate would bring total Prudhoe production for January to an average 403,806 bpd, down 2.5 percent from a December average of 414,206 bpd. With production cuts at mid-month due to tanker problems, however, FS-2 volumes would also have been reduced, making a total Prudhoe number more of an estimate than normal.
Prudhoe Bay production includes satellite fields Midnight Sun, Aurora, Polaris, Borealis and Orion.
Production was also down at BP’s Milne Point field, which averaged 31,255 bpd, down 3.8 percent from a December average of 32,498 bpd. Milne production includes Schrader Bluff oil.
The ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Alpine field had the steepest decline, down 4.2 percent with a January production average of 129,212 bpd compared to 134,867 bpd in December. The field was running at more than 135,000 bpd early in the month and dropped to 106,277 bpd on Jan. 21, ending the month at 131,085 bpd. Alpine includes production from two satellites, Fiord and Nanuq.
The BP-operated Endicott field averaged 49,945 bpd in January (this includes an estimated 33,000 bpd from FS-2 at Prudhoe), down 0.5 percent from a December average of 50,170 bpd. Endicott production includes Sag Delta, Eider and Badami.
BP’s Northstar averaged 47,192 bpd, up 4 percent from a December average of 45,363 bpd.
The ConocoPhillips-operated Kuparuk River field averaged 167,711 bpd in January, up 2.3 percent from a December average of 164,025 bpd. Kuparuk production includes satellite production from West Sak, Tabasco, Tarn, Meltwater and Palm.
The January temperature at Pump Station 1 at Prudhoe Bay averaged minus 13.4 degrees Fahrenheit in January, compared to 0.2 degrees F in December. The five-year average temperature at Pump Station 1 is minus 10.3 degrees F.
Cook Inlet production averaged 15,745 bpd in January, down 3 percent from a December average of 16,237 bpd.
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