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February ANS oil production down slightly from January Main compressor down at Northstar for a week, dropping production to less than 8,000 barrels per day for six days; field peaks at almost 65,000 bpd at end of month Kristen Nelson PNA Editor-in-Chief
The North Slope’s two newest fields — Alpine and Northstar — reached production levels at or above capacity during February. But loss of the main compressor at Northstar from Feb. 8 through Feb. 14 decreased output from that field to volumes below 8,000 barrels per day for six days. Output at Northstar, rated to handle 65,000 bpd, went from 47,242 bpd Feb. 7 to a low of 6,441 bpd Feb. 12. Volume started to come back up Feb. 15 at 10,183 bpd and production peaked for the month Feb. 26 at 64,760 bpd.
Northstar production averaged 36,140 bpd in February, up 1.13 percent from January.
Production began from the Northstar field in November. The field averaged 11,498 bpd in November, 29,407 bpd in December and 35,736 bpd in January. Compressor problems BP Exploration (Alaska) spokesman Ronnie Chappell told PNA March 5 that BP has two high-pressure compressors at Northstar, used for gas reinjection. One of the compressors had a mechanical problem and BP was required to take it offline, he said.
“Normally, if we had completed the process of commissioning the field we would have had a second compressor to bring on line in its place,” Chappell said, but functional checkout hadn’t been completed on the second compressor so it wasn’t available to bring into immediate service.
The second compressor is now up and running and field production has reached rates in excess of 60,000 bpd, Chappell said. “Overall startup has gone very well,” he said: “We continue to line out the plant and production from the field has been on track with expectations.”
The Alpine production facility came online in November 2000 rated for 80,000 bpd but has been de-bottlenecked to handle some 100,000 bpd. The field averaged 98,398 bpd in February, down 2.4 percent from a January average of 100,817 bpd.
Prudhoe Bay production (including satellites Midnight Sun, Aurora, Polaris and Borealis) averaged 547,614 bpd in February, up 1.4 percent from an average of 540,037 bpd in January.
Kuparuk River (including West Sak, Tabasco, Tarn and Meltwater) averaged 212,655 bpd in February, down 2.85 percent from an average of 218,893 bpd in January.
Milne Point (including Schrader Bluff and Sag River) averaged 51,021 bpd in February, down 3.43 percent from an average of 52,831 bpd in January.
Endicott (including Sag Delta, Eider and Badami) averaged 33,632 bpd in February, up 7.97 percent from a January average of 31,150 bpd.
Lisburne (including Point McIntyre, Niakuk, West Beach and North Prudhoe Bay State) averaged 72,434 bpd in February, down 5.63 percent from a January average of 76,758 bpd.
Prudhoe Bay natural gas liquids production averaged 50,305 bpd in February, up 1.15 percent from a January average of 49,734 bpd.
Overall North Slope production for February averaged 1,051,894 bpd, down 0.4 percent from a January average of 1,056,222 bpd.
Cook Inlet production averaged 31,629 bpd in February, down 3.1 percent from a January average of 32,641 bpd.
All Alaska crude production averaged 1,083,523 bpd in February, down 0.5 percent from a January average of 1,088,863 bpd.
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