ANS production up 4.8 percent month-over-month

North Slope averages 537,367 bpd in March, led by 7% Prudhoe Bay gain; February Cook Inlet gains just 1% averaging 18,231 bpd

Kristen Nelson

Petroleum News

Alaska North Slope production averaged 537,367 barrels per day in March, up 4.79 percent from a February average of 512,795 bpd.

The largest gain - by percent and by barrel - was at the BP Exploration (Alaska)-operated Prudhoe Bay field, the Slope’s largest. Production there averaged 314,499 bpd in March, up 7 percent (20,586 bpd) from a February average of 293,913 bpd.

March 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.

Revenue’s figures combine Prudhoe Bay production with satellites at Aurora, Borealis, Midnight Sun, Orion, Polaris, Sag River, Schrader Bluff and Ugnu. Prudhoe volumes also include the Hilcorp Alaska-operated Milne Point and Northstar fields.

AOGCC data for February show an average of 18,730 bpd at Milne Point, down 3.13 percent from a January average of 19,336 bpd, and an average of 10,364 bpd at Northstar in February, down 2.1 percent from a January average of 10,581 bpd.

Kuparuk also up

Kuparuk volumes include production from satellites at 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 February show that Nikaitchuq averaged 24,834 bpd, up 0.8 percent from a January average of 24,639 bpd, while Oooguruk averaged 9,873 bpd in February, up 0.8 percent from a January average of 9,798 bpd. February production from the two fields accounted for about 25 percent of the volume reported under Kuparuk, compared to 10 percent of the volume Revenue shows for Prudhoe attributable to Milne Point and Northstar.

The BP-operated Endicott field averaged 9,640 bpd in March, up 1.36 percent from a February average of 9,511 bpd. Endicott includes production from Eider, Minke and Sag Delta, as well as from the Savant Alaska-operated Badami field. AOGCC data show Badami averaged 995 bpd in February, up 0.5 percent from a January average of 989 bpd.

Alpine, Lisburne down

Production from the BP-operated Lisburne field, part of Greater Prudhoe Bay, averaged 25,408 bpd in March, down 0.1 percent from a February average of 25,434. Lisburne volumes include Niakuk, Point McIntyre and Raven.

Cook Inlet averages 18,231 bpd

The Cook Inlet Energy-operated Redoubt Shoal field had the largest month-over-month production increase, up 10.85 percent to an average of 1,013 bpd in February from 914 bpd in January.

Production from Hilcorp Alaska-operated Swanson River averaged 2,768 bpd in February, up 9.35 percent from a January average of 2,531 bpd.

Middle Ground Shoal, operated by ExxonMobil subsidiary XTO, averaged 1,977 bpd in February, up 2.1 percent from a January average of 1,937 bpd.

Hilcorp Alaska-operated Trading Bay averaged 2,656 bpd in February, up 0.5 percent from a January average of 2,643 bpd.

West McArthur River field, operated by Cook Inlet Energy, had the largest month-over-month decline, averaging 1,421 bpd in February, down 9.97 percent from a January average of 1,578 bpd.

Hilcorp Alaska-operated Beaver Creek, the inlet’s smallest producing field, averaged 118 bpd in February, down 1.8 percent from a January average of 120 bpd.

Hilcorp-operated Granite Point averaged 2,673 bpd in February, down 1.2 percent from a January average of 2,705 bpd.

McArthur River, the inlet’s largest producer, also operated by Hilcorp, averaged 5,606 bpd in February, down 0.3 percent from a January average of 5,621 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.