ANS November production up 6% over October; Alpine up 28%

Alaska North Slope crude oil production averaged 556,413 barrels per day in November, up 6.1 percent from an October average of 524,507 bpd, and also up - by 3.5 percent - from a November 2014 average of 537,964 bpd.

The largest month-over-month percentage increase, 28 percent, was at the ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Alpine field, where production from the CD5 pad started in late October. Alpine production averaged 59,669 bpd in November, up 13,071 bpd from an October average of 46,598.

November was the first month of full production from the new pad, which develops Alpine West. Alpine production had been averaging some 44,000-45,000 bpd in October, and climbed to more than 60,000 bpd the last few days of the month. Production levels dropped in the early part of November, and were averaging some 57,000-58,000 bpd by the end of the month.

Alpine production includes satellite production from Fiord, Nanuq and Qannik.

The largest month-over-month per-barrel increase was at the BP Exploration (Alaska)-operated Prudhoe Bay field, which averaged 321,896 bpd in November, up 4.6 percent from an October average of 307,678 bpd, an increase of 14,218 bpd. Prudhoe Bay volumes include satellite production from Aurora, Borealis, Midnight Sun, Orion, Polaris, Sag River, Schrader Bluff and Ugnu, as well as production from the Hilcorp Alaska-operated Milne Point and Northstar fields.

Information for November comes from the Alaska Department of Revenue’s Tax Division which reports North Slope oil production consolidated by major production centers and provides 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.

AOGCC data show that Milne Point averaged 18,890 bpd in October, up 3.8 percent from a September average of 18,196 bpd, while Northstar averaged 6,127 bpd in October, down 3.1 percent from a September average of 6,323 bpd.

Production from BP-operated Lisburne, part of greater Prudhoe Bay, averaged 24,362 bpd in November, up 9.3 percent from an October average of 22,289 bpd. Lisburne production includes Niakuk, Point McIntyre and Raven.

Production from the ConocoPhillips-operated Kuparuk River field averaged 141,352 bpd, up 2.2 percent from an October average of 138,377 bpd. Kuparuk production volumes include 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 for Nikaitchuq show the field averaged 25,772 bpd in October, up 0.3 percent from a September average of 25,691, while Oooguruk averaged 9,878 bpd in October, down 6.1 percent from a September average of 10,523 bpd.

Endicott, operated by Hilcorp, averaged 9,134 bpd in November, down 4.5 percent from an October average of 9,565 bpd. Endicott production volumes include Eider, Minke, Sag Delta and the Savant Alaska-operated Badami field, the farthest east production on the North Slope.

AOGCC data show Badami averaged 992 bpd in October, down 4.3 percent from 883 bpd in September.

Cook Inlet up 3.5 percent

Hilcorp Alaska, the dominant Cook Inlet oil producer, averaged 15,569 bpd in October, up 4.7 percent from a September average of 14,878 bpd.

The largest month-over-month increase was at the Middle Ground Shoal field which Hilcorp acquired from ExxonMobil subsidiary XTO in July. Production in October averaged 1,917 bpd, up 32.6 percent, 472 bpd, from a September average of 1,446.

Hilcorp had a 4 percent increase at Granite Point, which averaged 2,561 bpd in October, up from 2,462 bpd in September, and a 3.2 percent increase at McArthur River, Cook Inlet’s largest field, which averaged 5,666 bpd in October, up from 5,493 bpd in September.

All other Cook Inlet fields had month-over month declines, the steepest of which was at Cook Inlet Energy’s Redoubt Shoal field, which averaged 910 bpd in October, down 7.1 percent from a September average of 979 bpd.

The smallest Cook Inlet oil field, Beaver Creek, was down 4.6 percent, averaging 115 bpd in October compared to 121 bpd in September.

Cook Inlet Energy’s West McArthur River field averaged 1,244 bpd in October, down 2.2 percent from a September average of 1,272 bpd.

Hilcorp’s Swanson River averaged 2,390 bpd in October, down 1.6 percent from a September average of 2,428 bpd, while production from Hilcorp’s Trading Bay field was nearly flat, down just 0.3 percent, averaging 2,919 bpd in October compared to 2,929 bpd in September.

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.

- KRISTEN NELSON