May ANS production down 4 percent from April

Prudhoe Bay production drops below 500,000 barrels a day at end of month; Endicott, Milne Point production hold about level from April to May

Kristen Nelson

PNA News Editor

Alaska North Slope crude production averaged 998,943 barrels a day in May, down 3.93 percent from an April average of 1,039,833 barrels a day, a drop of 40,890 barrels a day.

Prudhoe Bay production was down 4.68 percent, averaging 568,866 barrels a day in May, down 27,920 barrels a day from an average of 596,786 barrels a day in April. The Department of Revenue’s Tax Division noted that planned maintenance at Prudhoe Bay began May 28 and is scheduled to run through June 10. Prudhoe Bay production dropped below the 500,000 barrel-a-day level May 28-May 30.

Kuparuk River production averaged 234,223 barrels a day in May, down 4.28 percent (10,482 barrels a day) from an April average of 244,705 barrels a day. The only work the Tax Division noted at Kuparuk was a shutdown of 1.5 hours on May 3 to reposition a drill rig on the pad.

The Lisburne Production Center (Lisburne, Point McIntyre, Niakuk) averaged 102,434 barrels a day, down 2.03 percent (2,123 barrels) from an average of 104,557 barrels a day in April. Work at Lisburne during May included a water injection pump down May 6-15; natural gas liquids plant work May 20-22 and well work at Point McIntyre May 28-31.

May production held within 1 percent of April production at both Milne Point and Endicott. Milne Point averaged 54,350 barrels a day in May, down 0.06 percent from an April average of 54,384 barrels a day. Endicott averaged 39,070 barrels a day in April, down 0.84 percent from an April average of 39,401 barrels a day.

Prudhoe Bay natural gas liquids production averaged 53,630 barrels a day in May, down 2.68 percent from an April average of 55,107 barrels a day.

Production in Cook Inlet was down 7.45 percent, averaging 29,302 barrels a day in May, a drop of 2,360 barrels a day from an April average of 31,662 barrels a day.