Cook Inlet natural gas down 5% for June

Production averaged 193,942 mcf per day; Kenai top gas producer at 33,225 mcf per day, 17% of Cook Inlet production for the month

Kristen Nelson

Petroleum News

Natural gas production from Cook Inlet averaged 193,942 thousand cubic feet per day in June, down 5.2%, 4,250 mcf, from a May 2020 average of 198,445 mcf per day, and down 8.8% from a June 2019 average of 212,674 mcf per day.

Data in this story is from the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which reports production on a month-delay basis. For natural gas the commission reports measurements in thousands of cubic feet, mcf.

The seven largest gas producers in the inlet accounted for 79% of the basin’s production in June, led by Hilcorp Alaska’s Kenai gas field, which averaged 33,225 mcf per day in June, up 2.3%, 736 mcf, from a May average of 32,489 mcf and up 5.8% from a June 2019 average of 31,406 mcf per day.

Hilcorp’s Ninilchik field averaged 30,364 mcf per day in June, up 0.5%, 157 mcf, from a May average of 30,207 mcf per day, but down 23.2% from a June 2019 average of 39,524 mcf per day.

Hilcorp’s McArthur River field, the inlet’s largest oil producer, averaged 23,380 mcf per day of gas in June, down 1.3%, 304 mcf, from a May average of 23,684 mcf per day, but up 4.2% from a June 2019 average of 22,435 mcf per day.

Hilcorp’s Swanson River averaged 22,306 mcf per day in June, down 24.4%, 7,210 mcf, from a May average of 29,516 mcf per day, and down 19.3% from a June 2019 average of 27,639 mcf per day.

The Beluga River field, operated by Hilcorp, averaged 17,053 mcf per day in June, down 3.6%, 640 mcf, from a May average of 17,692 mcf per day, and down 33.8% from a June 2019 average of 25,756 mcf per day.

Hilcorp’s North Cook Inlet averaged 14,069 mcf per day in June, up 7.3%, 959 mcf, from a May average of 13,110 mcf per day and up 12.5% from a June 2019 average of 12,506 mcf per day.

Furie’s Kitchen Lights field (acquired by HEX Alaska at the end of June), averaged 13,316 mcf per day in June, down 2.9%, 399 mcf, from a May average of 13,715 mcf per day, and down 13.1% from a June 2019 average of 15,318 mcf per day.

Smaller fields

Hilcorp’s Beaver Creek averaged 9,851 mcf per day in June, down 2.5%, 253 mcf, from a May average of 10,104 mcf per day but up 30.3% from a June 2019 average of 7,559 mcf per day.

Hilcorp’s Cannery Loop averaged 5,911 mcf per day in June, up 13.2%, 688 mcf, from a May average of 5,223 mcf per day, and up 79% from a June 2019 average of 3,302 mcf per day.

AIX’s Kenai Loop averaged 4,813 mcf per day in June, up 10.3%, 451 mcf, from a May average of 4,362 mcf per day, but down 11.9% from a June 2019 average of 5,460 mcf per day.

Hilcorp’s Deep Creek averaged 3,986 mcf per day in June, up marginally from a May average of 3,980 mcf per day but down 15.9% from a June 2019 average of 4,741 mcf per day.

Hilcorp’s Granite Point averaged 3,678 mcf per day in June, up 3.2%, 112 mcf, from a May average of 3,566 mcf per day and up 42% from a June 2019 average of 2,590 mcf per day.

BlueCrest’s Hansen field, the Cosmopolitan project, averaged 3,491 mcf per day in June, up 25.6%, 710 mcf, from a May average of 2,780 mcf per day but down 53.6% from a June 2019 average of 7,519 mcf per day.

The North Fork field, operated by Cook Inlet Energy, a Glacier Oil & Gas company, averaged 3,437 mcf per day in June, down 1%, 35 mcf, from a May average of 3,472 mcf per day, but up 22.2% from a June 2019 average of 2,812 mcf per day.

Hilcorp’s Trading Bay averaged 2,695 mcf per day in June, up 23%, 503 mcf, from a May average of 2,191 mcf per day and up 44% from a June 2019 average of 1,871 mcf per day.

Hilcorp’s Lewis River averaged 1,063 mcf per day in June, down 2%, 21 mcf, from a May average of 1,083 mcf per day and up 1080% from a June 2019 average of 90 mcf per day.

Hilcorp’s Nikolaevsk averaged 464 mcf per day in June, up 123.3%, 256 mcf, from a May average of 208 mcf per day, but down 19.7% from a June 2019 average of 578 mcf per day.

Amaroq’s Nicolai Creek averaged 336 mcf per day in June, up 53.5%, 117 mcf, from a May average of 219 mcf per day, but down 14.7% from a June 2019 average of 394 mcf per day.

Hilcorp’s Ivan River averaged 269 mcf per day in June, down 16.3%, 52 mcf, from a May average of 322 mcf per day and down 38.1% from a June 2019 average of 435 mcf per day.

Hilcorp’s Middle Ground Shoal averaged 238 mcf per day in June, down 45.3%, 197 mcf, from a May average of 434 mcf per day but up 15.9% from a June 2019 average of 205 mcf per day.

Cook Inlet natural gas production peaked in the mid-1990s at more than 850,000 mcf per day.