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North Slope crude production up 2%
Kristen Nelson Petroleum News Editor-in-Chief
Production ceased at Badami Aug. 7, and Alpine was down completely the first two days of the month as planned maintenance begun in July was completed, but Alaska North Slope crude oil production still averaged 945,956 barrels per day, an increase of 1.92 percent over July's average of 928,083 bpd.
All North Slope production areas except Lisburne saw increases in August.
The shut-in of Badami production has been expected since Badami field owner BP Exploration (Alaska) applied to the state in May to suspend production at the field, the farthest east producing field on the North Slope, because the 1,350 bpd production rate was not offsetting field costs. Badami production numbers are not shown separately in Alaska Department of Revenue monthly field production numbers, but are included with Endicott. Milne Point shows steepest rise The Lisburne production center, the only area to show a decrease in production from July to August, had a big drop, down 35.23 percent, averaging 39,654 bpd compared to 62,181 bpd in July. The Department of Revenue said planned maintenance led to a partial shutdown of the facility Aug. 14-27. Lisburne production averaged more than 60,000 bpd the first two weeks of the month, then dropped on the 14th and bottomed at 9,190 bpd on the 15th. Production began to rise again on the 26th, reaching 58,953 bpd Aug. 31. Production at Milne Point saw the steepest rise, up 31.63 percent to an average of 52,256 bpd from a July average of 39,700 bpd. This is a return to a more normal production rate for Milne, which averaged 51,235 bpd in June, and then was down for planned maintenance July 2-19.
Alpine, where planned maintenance took place July 28-Aug. 3, saw a 14.44 percent increase in August to an average of 91,640 bpd after a July average of 80,077 bpd.
Kuparuk River (including West Sak, Tabasco, Tarn, Meltwater and Palm) averaged 215,992 bpd in August, up 4.43 percent from 206,832 bpd in July, when there was two days of planned maintenance at the field.
Endicott (including Sag River, Eider and Badami until Aug. 7) averaged 30,264 bpd in August, up 4.43 percent from July production averaging 28,979 bpd.
Prudhoe Bay production (including Midnight Sun, Aurora, Polaris, Borealis and Orion) averaged 454,761 bpd in August, up 1.3 percent from July production of 448,941 bpd. Northstar averaged 61,389 bpd in August, flat from July production of 61,383 bpd.
The North Slope temperature is beginning to drop, averaging 42.6 degrees Fahrenheit, compared to a July average temperature of 51.6 degrees F. The three-year average temperature for August is 49.6 degrees F.
Production in Cook Inlet averaged 28,878 bpd in August, down 2.5 percent from a July average of 29,619 bpd.
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