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Alyeska: TAPS has calendar-year increase, up 1.8% from 2015
Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., operator of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, said Dec. 30 that the volume of oil moved in 2016 is projected to be up from 2015, the first calendar year-over-year increase since 2002. The total amount of crude oil the pipeline moved in 2016 is projected to be 517,500 barrels per day, a 1.8 percent increase from the 508,446 bpd the line moved in 2015.
“More oil is the best long-term solution for sustaining TAPS, from a technical and operational standpoint,” Alyeska President Tom Barrett said in a statement. “It’s also the best thing for Alaskans and our economy. Every barrel matters to us. The more throughput, the better we can plan for the continuing safe operation of the pipeline,” he said.
The pipeline is entering its 40th year of operations and has mostly reported annual throughput declines since flow peaked at 2 million bpd in 1988, the company said, with slight year-to-year increases in 1991 and 2002 the only exceptions.
Alyeska said it has worked for years to anticipate and respond to “escalating challenges” from declining throughput. “Lower flow means slower-moving oil, which allows more potential for cooling temperatures, ice formation in the line, and for water and wax to drop out of the flow stream and accumulate.”
Barrett said adjustment to lower flows has included adding heat to the pipeline and modifying pipeline pigging operations.
Point Thomson drives Endicott volumes On a month-over-month basis, Alaska North Slope crude oil production for December averaged 556,681 bpd, up 1.4 percent from a November average of 549,263 bpd, an increase of 7,418 bpd.
The largest month-over-month percentage increase was in Endicott volumes. The field, which includes Eider, Minke and Sag Delta, as well as volumes from the Glacier Oil & Gas-operated Badami field and the ExxonMobil Production-operated Point Thomson field, averaged 16,175 bpd in December, up 37.8 percent, 4,439 bpd, from a November average of 11,736 bpd.
Information for December 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.
The largest Endicott increase appears to be from Point Thomson, as Tax Division daily figures over the month show Endicott volumes ranging from a low of 8,906 barrels on Dec. 9 - approximately the volumes shown for Endicott before Point Thomson production began in April 2016 - to a high of 20,916 barrels Dec. 24.
AOGCC data for November show Point Thomson averaging 1,895 bpd in November, up 12.2 percent, 206 bpd, from an October average of 1,688 bpd.
Production from Badami averaged 942 bpd in November, up 7.2 percent, 63 bpd, from an October average of 879 bpd.
Prudhoe, Lisburne up The BP Exploration (Alaska)-operated Prudhoe Bay field, the North Slope’s largest, averaged 313,705 bpd in December, up 1.6 percent, from a November average of 308,632 bpd, an increase of 5,073 bpd. Prudhoe production includes 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.
AOGCC data show Milne Point averaged 22,030 bpd in November, up 14.1 percent, 2,729 bpd, from an October average of 19,301 bpd, while Northstar averaged 5,189 bpd in November, up 4.3 percent, 215 bpd, from an October average of 4,974 bpd.
The BP-operated Lisburne field averaged 24,587 bpd in December, up 8 percent, 1,824 bpd, up from 22,763 bpd in November. Lisburne includes volumes from Niakuk, Point McIntyre and Raven.
Alpine, Kuparuk The ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Alpine field averaged 60,927 bpd in December, up 1.2 percent, 701 bpd, from a November average of 60,226 bpd.
Alpine includes satellite production from Fiord, Nanuq and Qannik.
The ConocoPhillips-operated Kuparuk River field, the Slope’s second largest, averaged 141,287 bpd in December, down 3.2 percent, 4,619 bpd, from a November average of 145,906 bpd.
Kuparuk volumes include satellite production from Meltwater, Tabasco, Tarn and West Sak, as well as production from the Eni-operated Nikaitchuq field and the Caelus Alaska-operated Oooguruk field.
AOGCC data show Nikaitchuq averaged 22,033 bpd in November, down 1.4 percent, 311 bpd, from an October average of 22,344 bpd. Oooguruk averaged 14,838 bpd in November, down 2.9 percent, 437 bpd, from an October average of 15,275 bpd.
Cook Inlet down 3% November production from Cook Inlet as reported by AOGCC averaged 14,513 bpd, down 3.25 percent, 487 barrels, from an October average of 15,000 bpd.
Hilcorp Alaska’s Beaver Creek field, Cook Inlet’s smallest, averaged 83 bpd in November, down 58.1 percent, 115 bpd, from an October average of 198 bpd.
Hilcorp’s Granite Point field averaged 2,514 bpd in November, up 0.2 percent, 4 bpd, from an October average of 2,510 bpd.
BlueCrest’s Hansen field, the Cosmopolitan project, averaged 164 bpd in November, up 8.1 percent, 12 bpd, from an October average of 152 bpd.
Hilcorp’s McArthur River field, the inlet’s largest, averaged 4,455 bpd in November, down 9.8 percent, 486 bpd, from an October average of 4,941 bpd.
Middle Ground Shoal, also a Hilcorp field, averaged 1,813 bpd in November, down 0.6 percent, 10 bpd, from an October average of 1,823 bpd.
Redoubt Shoal, operated by Glacier Oil and Gas, averaged 586 bpd in November, down 14.3 percent, 98 bpd, from an October average of 684 bpd.
Hilcorp’s Swanson River field averaged 1,961 bpd in November, up 5 percent, 94 bpd, from an October average of 1,867 bpd.
Trading Bay, also operated by Hilcorp, averaged 1,757 bpd in November, down 11.4 percent, 226 bpd, from an October average of 1,983 bpd.
Glacier’s West McArthur River field averaged 1,180 bpd in November, up 40 percent, 337 bpd, from an October average of 842 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.
- KRISTEN NELSON
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