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Governor asks for more Alaska oil production In the wake of hurricane, Murkowski asks producers to hike output Kristen Nelson Petroleum News Editor-in-Chief
Given reduced Gulf of Mexico oil production following hurricane Katrina, Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski has asked the state’s major producers to increase production as much as possible beyond current production levels.
“Alaska has been a critical supplier of energy to our country for decades, and as the nation struggles with the catastrophic human and economic consequences of this devastating hurricane, it is natural for us to again play a leading role in meeting America’s energy needs,” the governor said in a Sept. 6 statement.
The governor said he met with North Slope crude oil producers and Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. to enlist their support.
The governor said Alyeska officials indicated they feel satisfied that the trans-Alaska oil pipeline could accommodate significant additional production. He said producers told him they would examine all opportunities for increasing production rates.
ConocoPhillips Alaska spokeswoman Dawn Patience said: “ConocoPhillips is committed to working with the state and looking for any opportunities to increase production.” BP: workover budget increased BP Exploration (Alaska) spokesman Daren Beaudo said BP is producing as much as it can and is focused on operating safely. He said that over the last couple of years, “given the support of high oil prices, we’ve been able to increase our workover budget. Workovers are targeted at poor producers, he said, “older wells or some that might need some mechanical work” with the goal of turning “them back into productive wells.”
BP has also been working to get Badami back on line, and Beaudo said Sept. 7 the company expects “within a week’s time … to have some Badami production back up, although we can’s say how much.”
“There aren’t really any switches to flip to make production go up; we’re producing as much as we can,” Beaudo said.
“With the high oil prices there aren’t too many broken wells or well workovers that aren’t on the hurry-up and get it done schedule already,” Bill Van Dyke, petroleum manager at the Alaska Division of Oil and Gas said Sept. 7. He said the operators had been working hard to get Northstar and Prudhoe Bay Gathering Center 2 back on line.
“We are not aware of any idle wells or shut-in production that can just be turned on,” he said.
North Slope production averaged 848,743 barrels per day in August, but dropped to an average of 758,611 for the first six days of September due to maintenance.
The Alaska Department of Revenue said Northstar, which had been down for compressor work, was back online Sept. 6. Gathering Center 2 at Prudhoe Bay, partially shut down for maintenance Sept. 3, had reduced production Sept. 4-5.
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