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November ANS production down 7% from October North Slope field production slowed after quake-triggered shutdown of pipeline, with field declines averaging 6.4 percent to 9.6 percent from previous month Kristen Nelson PNA Editor-in-Chief
Alaska North Slope crude oil production averaged 920,591 barrels per day in November, down 7.2 percent from October’s average of 991,762 bpd due to shutdown of the trans-Alaska pipeline following the Nov. 3 magnitude 7.9 earthquake 92 miles south of Fairbanks on the Denali fault. The Department of Revenue said the line was not at full throughput until Nov. 8.
The daily ANS production numbers tell the story: throughput was 1.002 million barrels Nov. 1 and dropped to 972,330 barrels Nov. 2, then to 732,033 barrels Nov. 3 and bottomed out at 19,434 barrels Nov. 5 before beginning to rebound. Production finally topped 1 million barrels again on Nov. 8, and was above the 1 million barrel a day mark for 20 of the remaining 22 days of the month.
It was also warm on the slope, with an average Pump Station No. 1 temperature of 11 degrees F, compared to a four-year November average of 5.8 degrees F.
Endicott only field with increased production Endicott (including Sag River, Eider and Badami) averaged 26,096 bpd in November, up 8.4 percent (2,010 bpd) from an October average of 24,086 bpd, the only field on the slope where production increased from October to November. The October figure for Endicott was abnormally low due to two weeks of planned plant maintenance. Production at the field averaged 28,418 bpd in September.
Lisburne (including Point McIntyre and Niakuk) saw the greatest percentage decline, averaging 59,177 bpd in November, down 9.6 percent from an average of 65,452 bpd in October, down an average of 6,275 bpd over the month.
Prudhoe has greatest per barrel drop Prudhoe Bay (including Midnight Sun, Aurora, Polaris and Borealis) had the largest per-barrel drop. With a November average of 442,631 bpd production was down an average of 35,578 bpd (7.4 percent) from an October average of 478,199 bpd.
Northstar production dropped 8.7 percent to 54,783 bpd, down from an October average of 59,995 bpd.
Milne Point (including Schrader Bluff and Sag River), production, 50,896 bpd for November, was down 8.5 percent (4,720 bpd) from an October average of 55,616 bpd.
Alpine averaged 93,019 bpd in November, down 8.1 percent (8,162 bpd) from an October average of 101,181 bpd.
Kuparuk (including West Sak, Tabasco, Tarn and Meltwater) averaged 193,999 bpd in October, down 6.4 percent (13,234 bpd) from an October average of 207,233 bpd.
Cook Inlet production averaged 28,534 bpd in November, down 5.8 percent (1,749 bpd) from an October average of 30,283 bpd.
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