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ANS production up 4.3% from July Big jump at Alpine following end of scheduled summer maintenance; Lisburne production drops as maintenance begins at that field KRISTEN NELSON Petroleum News
Alaska North Slope crude oil production averaged 478,842 barrels per day in August, up 4.25 percent from a July average of 459,327 bpd.
The largest month-over-month increase was at the ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Alpine field. Alpine was down for scheduled maintenance beginning July 22, so there was no production from that field for the last 10 days of July, resulting in average production of just 36,748 bpd. In August Alpine was down for the first four days of the month, and the field’s production averaged 56,864 bpd, up 54.7 percent from July. Alpine production includes satellite production from Fiord, Nanuq and Qannik, with the majority of the field’s production from the main Alpine field.
The most recent North Slope information - daily volumes and monthly averages consolidated by major production centers - comes from the Alaska Department of Revenue’s Tax Division. 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 BP Exploration (Alaska)-operated Prudhoe Bay field, the Slope’s largest, and the ConocoPhillips-operated Kuparuk River field also saw month-over-month production increases.
Prudhoe includes satellite production from 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.
Total production shown under Prudhoe averaged 264,549 bpd in August, up 1.6 percent, 4,102 bpd, from a July average of 260,447.
AOGCC data for July show an average of 19,413 bpd for Milne Point, up 2.9 percent from a June average of 18,861 bpd. Northstar averaged 4,521 bpd in July, down 12.9 percent from a June average of 5,193 bpd.
Kuparuk averaged 134,904 bpd in August, up 3.2 percent, 4,159 bpd, from a July average of 130,745 bpd.
Kuparuk includes satellite production from Meltwater, Tabasco, Tarn and West Sak, as well as from the Eni-operated Nikaitchuq field and the Caelus Alaska-operated Oooguruk field.
AOGCC data show Nikaitchuq averaged 24,392 bpd in July, down 0.8 percent from a June average of 24,586, while Oooguruk averaged 15,356 bpd in July, down 6.4 percent from a June average of 16,403 bpd.
At the BP-operated Lisburne field, which includes production from Niakuk, Point McIntyre and Raven, production averaged 18,495 bpd in August, down 18.9 percent from a July average of 22,801. The field went offline Aug. 27 as scheduled maintenance began, and was still down Sept. 6.
Production from Hilcorp-operated Endicott averaged 4,030 bpd in August, down 53 percent from a July average of 8,586. Endicott production includes volumes from satellites Eider, Minke and Sag Delta, as well as from the Savant Alaska-operated Badami field and the ExxonMobil Production-operated Point Thomson field on the eastern side of the Slope.
AOGCC data show Badami averaged 980 bpd in July, up 0.4 percent from a June average of 976 bpd, while Point Thomson, where facilities are still being commissioned, averaged 1,061 bpd, up 50 percent from a June average of 709 bpd.
Cook Inlet up 5.6 percent Production from Southcentral’s Cook Inlet averaged 15,729 bpd in July, up 5.6 percent from a June average of 14,900. AOGCC figures show the largest month-over-month percentage increase, 89 percent, at the Cook Inlet Energy-operated Redoubt Shoal field, which averaged 937 bpd in July, up from 496 bpd in June, an increase of 442 bpd.
The largest per-barrel month-over-month increase was at the Hilcorp Alaska-operated McArthur River field, Cook Inlet’s largest, which averaged 5,217 bpd in July, up 20 percent, 869 bpd, from a June average of 4,348 bpd.
Other fields with month-over-month increases include Hilcorp’s Granite Point, which averaged 2,559 bpd in July, up 3.4 percent, 85 bpd, from a June average of 2,474 bpd, and Hilcorp’s Trading Bay field, which averaged 2,328 bpd in July, up 3 percent, 68 bpd, from a June average of 2,260 bpd.
Cook Inlet fields with month-over-month declines in production include Hilcorp’s Beaver Creek, which averaged 101 bpd in July, down 15.3 percent from a June average of 120 bpd; BlueCrest’s Hansen field, which averaged 143 bpd in July, down 2 percent from a June average of 145 bpd; Hilcorp’s Middle Ground Shoal, which averaged 1,735 bpd in July, down 8.8 percent from a June average of 1,902 bpd; Hilcorp’s Swanson River, which averaged 1,899 bpd in July, down 6 percent from a June average of 2,021 bpd; and Cook Inlet Energy’s West McArthur River field, which averaged 810 bpd in July, down 28.6 percent from a June average of 1,134 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.
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