North Slope production down 7% in June

ANS averages 491,419 bpd, down from 529,570 bpd in May, with month-over-month drop led by Prudhoe Bay, down 11%, almost 31,000 bpd

KRISTEN NELSON

Petroleum News

Alaska North Slope crude oil production averaged 491,419 barrels per day in June, down 7.2 percent from a May average of 529,670 bpd. Part of the decline is attributable to Alyeska Pipeline Service Co.’s 36-hour maintenance shutdown of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline June 25-26, with overall ANS production dropping from 558,417 barrel June 1 to a low of 182,460 barrels June 26, rebounding only to 442,056 barrels June 30.

Prudhoe Bay, operated by BP Exploration (Alaska), had the largest month-over-month production decline, averaging 255,333 bpd in June, down 10.8 percent from a May average of 286,286 bpd. Prudhoe Bay produced 307,909 barrels June 1, dropped to 33,387 barrels June 25, and had rebounded to 236,516 barrels June 30.

Prudhoe Bay volumes include production from satellites at 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.

Information for June comes from the Alaska Department of Revenue’s Tax Division which reports North Slope oil production consolidated by major production centers and provides daily production and monthly averages. 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.

AOGCC figures for Milne Point show that field averaged 19,420 bpd in May, down 1.6 percent from an April average of 19,729 bpd, while Northstar averaged 5,294 bpd in May, down 0.9 percent from an April average of 5,341 bpd.

BP-operated Lisburne, part of greater Prudhoe Bay, averaged 23,443 bpd in June, down 0.7 percent from a May average of 23,611 bpd. Lisburne volumes include Niakuk, Point McIntyre and Raven.

Volumes listed for the Hilcorp Alaska-operated Endicott field averaged 9,562 bpd in June, the only North Slope reporting area to have a month-over-month increase, up 4.2 percent from a May average of 9,176 bpd.

Endicott includes satellite production at Eider, Minke and Sag Delta, as well as production from the Savant Alaska-operated Badami field and the ExxonMobil Production-operated Point Thomson field.

AOGCC data for Badami show that field averaged 1,022 bpd in May, down 1.6 percent from an April average of 1,039. Point Thomson, where production began in April, averaged 263 bpd in May, down 83.5 percent from an April average of 1,599 bpd.

June production was down month-over-month at both the ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Alpine and Kuparuk River fields.

Alpine production averaged 62,301 bpd in June, down 5.3 percent from a May average of 65,783 bpd. Alpine volumes include satellite production at Fiord, Nanuq and Qannik.

As with other North Slope fields Alpine saw a drop during the trans-Alaska oil pipeline maintenance shutdown, but only by a few thousand barrels, from 64,438 barrels June 1 to a low of 55,010 barrels June 25, and back up to 60,689 barrels by the end of the month.

June production from the Kuparuk River field averaged 140,780 bpd in June, down 2.8 percent from a May average of 144,814 bpd. Kuparuk started the month at 150,666 barrels, dropped to 41,152 barrels June 26, and was up to 111,665 barrels by the end of the month.

Kuparuk volumes include satellite production at Meltwater, Tabasco, Tarn and West Sak, as well as production from the Eni-operated Nikaitchuq field and the Caelus Alaska-operated Oooguruk field.

AOGCC data show Nikaitchuq averaged 24,852 bpd in May, up 3 percent from an April average of 24,126 bpd; Oooguruk averaged 15,611 bpd in May, down 12.4 percent from an April average of 17,825 bpd.

Production from Southcentral Alaska’s Cook Inlet averaged 15,399 bpd in May, down 2.2 percent from an April average of 15,738 bpd.

The newest producing field in the Cook Inlet basin is the BlueCrest Energy-operated Hansen field, the Cosmopolitan project, which averaged 261 bpd in May, down 6.8 percent from an April average of 280 bpd. Hansen production, which is being trucked from the field, began in March with a reported 80 barrels total, an average of 3 bpd.

Cook Inlet’s smallest producing oil field, the Hilcorp Alaska-operated Beaver Creek, averaged 126 bpd in May, up 0.8 percent from an April average of 125 bpd.

Hilcorp’s Granite Point field averaged 2,580 bpd in May, up 2 percent from an April average of 2,529 bpd.

McArthur River, also operated by Hilcorp - and Cook Inlet’s largest producing field - averaged 4,710 bpd in May, down marginally from an April average of 4,715 bpd.

Hilcorp’s Middle Ground Shoal field averaged 1,894 bpd in May, down 1.8 percent from an April average of 1,928 bpd.

Redoubt Shoal, operated by Cook Inlet Energy, averaged 343 bpd in May, down 48.8 percent from an April average of 670 bpd.

Hilcorp’s Swanson River field averaged 2,182 bpd in May, down 9.4 percent from an April average of 2,408 bpd.

The Hilcorp-operated Trading Bay field averaged 2,271 bpd in May, down 1.1 percent from an April average of 2,295 bpd.

And the Cook Inlet Energy-operated West McArthur field averaged 1,032 bpd in May, up 31 percent from an April average of 788 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.