BP revises production forecast

BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. has revised its production forecast for the Prudhoe Bay unit.

The operator of the unit expects crude oil and condensate production from the initial participating areas of the unit to be between 157,000 and 196,000 barrels per day in 2016 and natural gas liquids production to be between 36,000 and 45,000 bpd.

In its most recent plan of development for the initial participating areas, BP had forecast crude oil and condensate production in the range of 137,000-176,000 bpd and natural gas liquids production in the range of 29,000-37,000 bpd for 2016.

Those previous forecasts would have represented a 10 to 30 percent decline in crude oil and condensate production and a 2.6 to 24 percent decline in natural gas liquids production over 2015. In 2015, the initial participating areas produced 196,400 barrels of crude oil and condensate per day and 38,000 barrels of natural gas liquids per day.

With the revisions, production rates are still forecasted to decline, albeit at a modest rate.

Over the past year, BP has reduced its workforce and scaled back drilling plans.

- ERIC LIDJI