|
ANS December crude output basically flat Up 209 bpd from November, Alaska North Slope crude oil output barely increases; November Cook Inlet production down marginally By KRISTEN NELSON Petroleum News
Alaska North Slope crude oil production averaged 582,149 barrels per day in December, up 0.04 percent (209 bpd) over a November average of 581,940 bpd. Cook Inlet production data, available on a month-delay basis, averaged 11,243 bpd in November, down marginally from an October average of 11,280 bpd.
Volumes reported for the BP Exploration (Alaska)-operated Prudhoe Bay field averaged 340,253 bpd in December, up 0.45 percent from a November average of 338,738, the largest per-barrel increase on the Slope, up an average of 1,515 bpd. Reported Prudhoe Bay volumes include satellite production from Aurora, Borealis, Midnight Sun, Orion and Polaris, as well as production from the BP-operated Northstar and Milne Point fields.
Except where noted, North Slope volumes are from the Alaska Department of Revenue’s Tax Division, which reports oil production consolidated by major production centers and provides daily production and monthly averages for the most recent month.
Volumes for the ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Kuparuk River field show an average production of 132,526 bpd in December, up 0.82 percent (1,082 bpd) from a November average of 131,444. Kuparuk includes satellite production from Meltwater, Tabasco, Tarn and West Sak, as well as production from the Eni-operated Nikaitchuq field and the Pioneer Natural Resources Alaska-operated Oooguruk field.
Nikaitchuq production up Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission data, available on a month-delay basis, breaks out production by field and pool, and shows Nikaitchuq averaged 9,663 bpd in November, up 4.5 percent from an October average of 9,251 bpd, while Oooguruk production averaged 6,469 bpd in November, down 7.3 percent from an October average of 6,979 bpd.
Volumes for the BP-operated Endicott field show a 2.1 percent increase, up 221 bpd, for an average of 10,837 bpd in December compared to 10,616 bpd in November. Endicott volumes include satellite production and volumes from the Savant Alaska-operated Badami field. AOGCC data for November show that Badami averaged 1,334 bpd, down 3 percent from an October average of 1,374 bpd.
Production from the BP-operated Lisburne field averaged 28,949 bpd in December, down. 2.2 percent from a November average of 29,593 bpd. Lisburne production includes Point McIntyre and Niakuk.
The largest month-to-month production drop on the North Slope was at the ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Alpine field, which averaged 69,584 bpd in December, down 2.8 percent, 1,965 bpd, from a November average of 71,549 bpd. Alpine production includes satellites at Fiord, Nanuq and Qannik. AOGCC data for November shows 49,282 bpd from Alpine, 19,257 bpd from Fiord, 1,943 bpd from Qannik and 1,067 bpd from Nanuq.
Cook Inlet AOGCC data shows Cook Inlet crude oil production averaged 11,243 bpd in November, down marginally (0.3 percent) from an October average of 11,280 bpd.
Cook Inlet crude oil production comes from eight fields, only three of which — Granite Point, McArthur River and Middle Ground Shoal — average more than 1,000 bpd.
In November the Hilcorp Alaska-operated McArthur River field, the largest of the three, averaged 4,330 bpd, up 1.1 percent from an October average of 4,282 bpd. The Granite Point field, also operated by Hilcorp, averaged 2,141 bpd, down 3.8 percent from an October average of 2,226 bpd.
The Middle Ground Shoal field, operated by ExxonMobil subsidiary XTO, averaged 2,084 bpd, down 7.6 percent from an October average of 2,254 bpd.
Among the smaller fields, the biggest percentage changes were at the Cook Inlet Energy-operated Redoubt Shoal and West McArthur River fields. Redoubt Shoal field averaged 326 bpd in November, up 46.8 percent from an October average of 222 bpd while West McArthur River field averaged 805 bpd, up 48.7 percent from an October average of 542 bpd.
The Marathon-operated Beaver Creek field averaged 115 bpd, down 16.1 percent from an October average of 137 bpd.
Hilcorp’s Swanson River field averaged 786 bpd, down 18.8 percent from an October average of 969 bpd.
The Hilcorp-operated Trading Bay field averaged 656 bpd, up 1.2 percent from an October average of 648 bpd.
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.
|
