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Month-over-month ANS production up 5.2% Prudhoe leads increase, up 15% October over September; Lisburne down 70% as planned maintenance completed for season Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
Alaska North Slope crude oil production averaged 522,094 barrels per day in October, up 5.18 percent from a September average of 496,388 bpd. Production dropped over the summer due to planned seasonal maintenance, and October is the first month since June that ANS production has averaged more than 500,000 bpd, although it is down 2.29 percent from October 2013 production, which averaged 534,307 bpd.
The largest month-over-month increase was at the BP Exploration (Alaska)-operated Prudhoe Bay field which averaged 310,950 bpd in October, up 15 percent from a September average of 270,336 bpd. Prudhoe production is also up 4 percent year-over-year: October 2013 production at the field averaged 298,727 bpd.
Prudhoe Bay production includes satellite production from Aurora, Borealis, Midnight Sun, Orion and Polaris, as well as production from the Northstar and Milne Point fields. BP is in the process of transferring operation of those fields to Hilcorp Alaska, which will acquire all of BP’s interest in Northstar and half of its interest in Milne Point as part of a deal expected to close at the end of the year.
Information for October comes from the Alaska Department of Revenue’s Tax Division which reports North Slope 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 data for the Milne Point field shows average production of 19,494 bpd in September, up 4 percent from an August average of 18,744 bpd. Northstar averaged 8,787 bpd in September, up 4.69 percent from 8,394 bpd in August.
Alpine, Kuparuk also up The ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Alpine field averaged 48,891 bpd in October, up 2.93 percent from a September average of 47,501 bpd, but down substantially, 19.87 percent, from an October 2013 average of 61,018 bpd. Alpine includes satellite production from Fiord, Nanuq and Qannik.
ConocoPhillips-operated Kuparuk River averaged 146,285 bpd in October, up 0.88 percent from a September average of 145,006 bpd, and also up 7.95 percent from an October 2013 average of 135,516 bpd. The story here, however, involves more than Kuparuk, because its volumes include satellite production from Meltwater, Northeast West Sak, Tabasco, Tarn and West Sak, as well as production from the Eni-operated Nikaitchuq field and the Caelus Alaska-operated Oooguruk field.
AOGCC data for September show Nikaitchuq averaged 25,133 bpd, up 9.54 percent from an August average of 22,944. In September 2013, that field averaged 15,409 bpd. Oooguruk averaged 12,568 bpd in September, down 21 percent from an August average of 15,910 bpd. In September 2013, Oooguruk averaged 7,530 bpd.
Production at both of those fields is up year-over-year, and in September their combined production was 26 percent of the total shown for Kuparuk.
Wrap up on maintenance The BP-operated Lisburne field averaged 7,363 bpd in October, down 70 percent from a September average of 24,613 bpd. The field was completely offline for almost two weeks in October, and BP spokeswoman Dawn Patience said in an email that the “Lisburne Production Center was offline as we wrapped up planned maintenance activities before the arctic winter sets in.” Patience said that work completed BP’s 2014 turnaround season.
The BP-operated Endicott field, another North Slope field where Hilcorp is scheduled to acquire BP’s interest and take over as operator, averaged 8,605 bpd in October, down 3.66 percent from a September average of 8,932 bpd. Endicott also includes production from the Savant Alaska-operated Badami field. AOGCC data show Badami averaged 1,037 bpd in September, up 1.73 percent from an August average of 1,019 bpd. Miller Energy is in the process of taking over ownership of Savant.
Cook Inlet up 1.8% AOGCC data for September shows Cook Inlet averaged 18,413 bpd, up 1.84 percent from an August average of 18,079 bpd.
The largest month-over-month crude oil production increase was at the Hilcorp-operated Swanson River field, which averaged 2,602 bpd in September, up 18.92 percent from an August average of 2,188 bpd.
The largest month-over-month production decrease was at the Cook Inlet Energy-operated West McArthur River field, which averaged 1,373 bpd in September, down 22.3 percent from an August average of 1,767 bpd.
Hilcorp, operating five fields in Cook Inlet (Beaver Creek, Granite Point, McArthur River, Swanson River and Trading Bay), averaged 14,155 bpd in September, up 6.15 percent from an August average of 13,335 bpd.
Cook Inlet Energy, operating Redoubt Shoal and West McArthur River, averaged 2,342 bpd in September, down 16.31 percent from an August average of 2,799 bpd.
ExxonMobil subsidiary XTO, operating Middle Ground Shoal, averaged 1,916 bpd in September, down 1.56 percent from an August average of 1,946 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.
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