BP Amoco ANS term price down 5 percent

Kristen Nelson

BP Amoco’s November term price for Alaska North Slope crude is $21.80 a barrel, down 5 percent from the October price of $22.95 a barrel, a drop of $1.15.

The October price was the highest the term price had been since February 1997, when it stood at $23.63 a barrel.

This November’s price is 63 percent higher than last November’s price of $13.38 a barrel, when term prices were on their way to a January low of $9.37 a barrel. The January price was the lowest BP’s term price had been since July 1986 when it stood at $9 a barrel.

The year-to-date average for the term price is $15.84 a barrel, up 19 percent from the comparable average of $13.30 a barrel in 1998.

As of Nov. 1, the state Department of Revenue Division of Oil and Gas Audit said that the fiscal year-to-date price for ANS crude was $19.85 a barrel, $6.28 a barrel higher than the division’s spring 1999 estimate of $13.57 a barrel at fiscal year-end. The division uses a fiscal year of June 1 through May 31 because prices and production equate to revenue in the month that follows. The state’s fiscal year is July 1 through June 30.