SIDEBAR: Cook Inlet natural gas production up 5%

Kristen Nelson

Petroleum News

Cook Inlet natural gas production averaged 230,289 thousand cubic feet per day in October, up 5.2%, 7,757 mcf per day, from a September average of 233,532 mcf per day and up 2% from an October 2019 average of 225,728 mcf per day.

Data are from the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which reports production on a month-delay basis. For natural gas AOGCC reports measurements in thousands of cubic feet, mcf.

Twenty-two fields in Cook Inlet, 20 currently online, have produced gas in the last year, with eight fields accounting for 86% of gas production, 197,838 mcf per day in October.

Hilcorp’s Kenai gas field produced 44,739 mcf per day in October, 19.4% of total inlet production. The field’s October average was up 12.3%, 4,895 mcf, from a September average of 39,845 mcf and up 30.4% from an October 2019 average of 34,317 mcf.

Hilcorp’s McArthur River averaged 32,412 mcf per day in October, up 10%, 2,954 mcf per day, from a September average of 29,458 mcf per day and up 46.5% from an October 2019 average of 22,119 mcf per day. The field accounted for 14% of inlet production in October.

Ninilchik, another Hilcorp field, accounted for 11.8% of production, averaging 27,250 mcf per day in October, down 6.8%, 1,990 mcf per day from a September average of 29,241 mcf per day, and down 22.5% from an October 2019 average of 35,167 mcf per day.

The Beluga River field, operated by Hilcorp (Chugach Electric Association holds the majority interest in leases at Beluga), accounted for 11.4% of Cook Inlet gas production, averaging 26,222 mcf per day in October, up 20.8%, 4,509 mcf per day, from a September average of 21,713 mcf per day and up 17.3% from an October 2019 average of 22,363 mcf per day.

Hilcorp’s Swanson River field, 9.8% of production volumes, averaged 22,573 mcf per day in October, down 4.3%, 1,013 mcf per day, from a September average of 23,585 mcf per day and down 42.4% from an October 2019 average of 39,219 mcf per day.

Hilcorp’s North Cook Inlet, 7.5% of October production, averaged 17,340 mcf per day, down 3.1%, 551 mcf per day, from a September average of 17,891 mcf per day but up 24.4% from an October 2019 average of 13,940 mcf per day.

Kitchen Lights, operated by HEX’s Furie Operating Alaska, accounted for 6.1% of October production, averaging 14,114 mcf per day, down 4.3%, 635 mcf per day, from a September average of 14,749 mcf per day, and down 12% from an October 2019 average of 16,037 mcf per day.

Hilcorp’s Beaver Creek, 5.7% of October production, averaged 13,188 mcf per day, down 19.4%, 3,182 mcf per day, from a September average of 16,370 mcf per day but up 88.7% from an October 2019 average of 6,990 mcf per day.

Combined production from the remaining 12 fields producing in October accounted for 14% of Cook Inlet gas volumes.

The AIX-operated Kenai Loop field averaged 5,065 mcf per day in October, up 10%, 461 mcf per day, from a September average of 4,604 mcf per day but down 6.8% from an October 2019 average of 5,433 mcf per day.

Hilcorp’s Cannery Loop averaged 4,872 mcf per day in October, up 1%, 49 mcf per day, from a September average of 4,823 mcf per day but down 41.1% from an October 2019 average of 8,266 mcf per day.

Hilcorp’s Ivan River averaged 4,538 mcf per day in October, up 89.4%, 2,142 mcf per day, from a September average of 2,396 mcf per day and up 1,072.8% from an October 2019 average of 387 mcf per day.

Hilcorp’s Granite Point averaged 3,766 mcf per day, up 2.9%, 105 mcf per day, from a September average of 3,661 mcf per day, and up 43.3% from an October 2019 average of 2,629 mcf per day.

Hilcorp’s Deep Creek averaged 3,714 mcf per day in October, up 7.5%, 259 mcf per day, from a September average of 3,455 mcf per day but down 17% from an October 2019 average of 4,472 mcf per day.

The North Fork field, acquired by Gardes Holdings in September, averaged 3,216 mcf per day in October, down 2.4%, 80 mcf per day, from a September average of 3,296 mcf per day and down 14.3% from an October 2019 average of 3,752 mcf per day.

BlueCrest’s Hansen field averaged 2,871 mcf per day, down 5.9%, 181 mcf per day, from a September average of 3,052 mcf per day and down 46.5% from an October 2019 average of 5,365 mcf per day.

Hilcorp’s Trading Bay averaged 2,475 mcf per day in October, up 0.8%, 19 mcf per day, from a September average of 2,456 mcf per day, but down 19.9% from an October 2019 average of 3,088 mcf per day.

Hilcorp’s Nikolaevsk averaged 362 mcf per day in October, down 2.6%, 10 mcf per day, from a September average of 372 mcf per day and down 22.3% from an October 2019 average of 466 mcf per day.

Hilcorp’s Middle Ground Shoal averaged 263 mcf per day in October, up 13%, 30 mcf per day, from a September average of 233 mcf per day but down 12.1% from an October 2019 average of 299 mcf per day.

Amaroq’s Nicolai Creek averaged 251 mcf per day in October, down 5.5%, 15 mcf per day, from a September average of 266 mcf per day; AOGCC records show no production from the field in October 2019.

Cook Inlet natural gas production peaked in the mid-1990s at more than 850,000 mcf per day.

- KRISTEN NELSON