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Maintenance drives Alaska production down 8% in July
Kristen Nelson Petroleum News editor-in-chief
Average daily Alaska North Slope crude oil production dropped below a million barrels in July, down 8 percent from June production, driven by the warmest temperatures of the year, scheduled maintenance at Alpine, Kuparuk and Milne Point, a generator problem at Alpine and an unplanned plant upset at Northstar.
Alaska North Slope crude production averaged 928,093 barrels per day in July, down 80,961 bpd from a June average of 1,009,054 bpd.
Milne Point had the steepest decline, a production drop of 22.5 percent. There was planned maintenance at the field July 2-19, with daily production dropping from 50,554 bpd July 1 to a low of 10,600 bpd July 3. Production stayed in the 30,000 bpd range during most of the maintenance, and got back into the 50,000 bpd range again July 21. The field averaged 39,700 bpd in July, down an average of 11,535 bpd from a June average of 51,235 bpd.
Production from Alpine was down 21.1 percent, with decreased production July 10-11 due to loss of a primary power generator. Alpine was also affected by planned maintenance at Kuparuk July 18-19, which impacted Alpine throughput. Planned maintenance takes Alpine production off line The big production impact on Alpine was planned maintenance, which shut down production entirely. Dawn Patience, spokeswoman for field operator ConocoPhillips, told Petroleum News that the field was down for scheduled maintenance for just short of a week at the end of July and beginning of August. Production dropped to 78,034 bpd July 27, to 10 bpd July 28, and zero barrels July 29-31. Patience said the field came back on line Aug. 3. For the month, Alpine averaged 80,077 bpd, down 21,455 bpd from a June average of 101,532 bpd.
Northstar, hit by an unplanned plant upset July 16, averaged 61,383 bpd in July, down 13.9 percent from a June average of 71,252 bpd, a drop of 9,869 bpd.
Endicott production was down 10.9 percent from June, averaging 28,979 bpd compared to 32,407 bpd, a drop of 3,428 bpd. Lisburne production was down 5.6 percent, averaging 62,181 bpd in July, compared to 65,876 bpd in June, a drop of 3,695 bpd. Lisburne production includes Point McIntyre and Niakuk.
Prudhoe Bay production, including satellites Midnight Sun, Aurora, Polaris, Borealis and Orion, was down 4.69 percent, averaging 448,941 bpd in July compared to 471,057 bpd in June, a drop of 22,116 bpd.
Kuparuk River, including West Sak, Tabasco, Tarn, Meltwater and Palm, was down 4.11 percent in July, averaging 206,832 bpd, compared to 215,695 bpd in June, a drop of 8,863 bpd.
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