ANS production drops in July

July North Slope production averages 825,733 bpd, down 11.63% from June due to scheduled facilities work, maintenance

Kristen Nelson

Petroleum News Editor-in-Chief

Alaska North Slope crude oil production averaged 825,733 barrels per day in July, down 11.63 percent from June, due primarily to the beginning of a scheduled shutdown at Alpine for facility expansion and maintenance work. A 30-hour scheduled shutdown of the trans-Alaska pipeline July 10-11 for maintenance combined with summer temperatures, which make compressors used for gas re-injection less efficient, contributed to an average production drop at all North Slope fields from June to July.

The ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Alpine field, which ramped down to marginal production July 19 and had no production from July 21 through the end of the month, averaged 54,173 bpd for the month, compared to 102,864 bpd in June. ConocoPhillips officials said in June that the shutdown was expected to last about a month.

Production from Alpine averaged 48,691 fewer bpd in July than in June, and accounted for 45 percent of the 108,710 bpd drop in average North Slope crude oil production from June to July. The facilities expansion at Alpine will increase produced water handling. The field has been producing at 100,000 to 105,000 bpd, and this summer’s work is expected to increase oil throughput by some 5,000 bpd. When project work is completed next summer, oil throughput rates will reach 140,000 bpd. (See story in June 27, 2004, issue of Petroleum News.)

The BP-operated Endicott field averaged 21,502 bpd in July, down 12.9 percent from a June average of 24,678 bpd. The BP-operated Lisburne field, which includes production from Point McIntyre and Niakuk, averaged 47,318 bpd in July, down 9.26 percent from a June average of 52,146 bpd.

The BP-operated Prudhoe Bay field averaged 397,464 bpd in July, down 7.9 percent from a June average of 431,444 bpd. Prudhoe Bay includes production from satellite fields Midnight Sun, Aurora, Polaris, Borealis and Orion. BP’s Milne Point field, including Schrader Bluff production, averaged 49,490 bpd in July, down 6.91 percent from a June average of 53,161 bpd. The ConocoPhillips-operated Kuparuk River field, which includes production from West Sak, Tabasco, Tarn, Meltwater and Palm, averaged 185,921 bpd, down 5.76 percent from a June average of 197,275 bpd.

BP’s Northstar field averaged 69,865 bpd in July, down 4.13 percent from a June average of 72,875 bpd.The July North Slope temperature averaged 49.8 degrees Fahrenheit at Pump Station No. 1, compared to a three-year average of 46.9 degrees F.

Production in Cook Inlet averaged 23,694 bpd, down 2.94 percent from a June average of 24,411 bpd.