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February ANS production down 1% Endicott, Lisburne show larges declines; January Cook Inlet crude oil production up 8 percent, led by at Hilcorp Alaska fields Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
February-over-January Alaska North Slope crude oil production declined 1 percent, led by a 20.6 percent decline at the BP Exploration (Alaska)-operated Lisburne field and a 12 percent decline at the BP-operated Endicott field.
ANS production for February averaged 570,983 barrels per day, compared to 576,969 bpd in January.
In the much smaller Cook Inlet basin, production figures just reported for January show a 2.7 percent increase over December, with Cook Inlet production totaling 12,398 bpd in January compared to 12,072 bpd in December.
Except where noted, North Slope volumes are from the Alaska Department of Revenue’s Tax Division, which reports oil production consolidated by major production centers and provides daily production and monthly averages for the most recent month.
Field-by-field volumes — and all Cook Inlet numbers — are from the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which reports on a field a pool level on a month-delay basis.
BP doing maintenance Maintenance, the majority of it planned, began at both Endicott and Lisburne in February, BP spokeswoman Dawn Patience told Petroleum News in a March 4 email.
At the beginning of February Endicott production was in the 11,000 bpd range; it began dropping Feb. 21 and in the 6,000 bpd range at the end of the month, with an average production rate in February of 9,613 bpd, down 12 percent from a January average of 10,923 bpd. Patience said Endicott facility maintenance would continue into March.
Lisburne averaged 24,228 bpd in February, down 20.6 percent from a January average of 30,499 bpd. Production at Lisburne began the month at more than 30,000 bpd and dropped below 20,000 bpd at mid-month, ending the month just above 24,000 bpd. Patience said Lisburne maintenance was also scheduled to continue through March, although not at the same level.
Lisburne includes production from Point McIntyre and Niakuk
Endicott includes production from the Savant Alaska-operated Badami field. Badami production, reported by AOGCC on a month-delay basis, averaged 1,277 bpd in January, down 2.9 percent from a December average of 1,315 bpd.
Alpine down, Kuparuk up The ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Alpine field averaged 64,044 bpd in February, down 3.7 percent from a January average of 66,513 bpd.
Alpine includes satellite production from Fiord, Nanuq and Qannik.
The Kuparuk River field, also operated by ConocoPhillips, averaged 135,849 bpd in February, up 3.6 percent from a January average of 131,197 bpd. Kuparuk includes satellite production from Meltwater, Tabasco, Tarn and West Sak, as well as production from the Eni-operated Nikaitchuq field and the Pioneer Natural Resources Alaska-operated Oooguruk field.
AOGCC January production volumes for Nikaitchuq show an average of 9,808 bpd, down 0.4 percent from a December average of 9,844. Oooguruk averaged 6,064 bpd in January, down 3.3 percent from a December average of 6,270 bpd.
Production at the BP-operated Prudhoe Bay field averaged 337,249 bpd in February, down 0.2 percent from a January average of 337,827 bpd. Prudhoe production was down temporarily beginning Feb. 19 following a natural gas liquids spill at a blending module near Pump Station 1 of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline (see story in March 3 issue). Production dipped to 306,110 bpd Feb. 20, and hit 344,028 bpd Feb. 22, averaging rates of more than 330,000 for the rest of the month.
Cook Inlet Cook Inlet crude oil production comes from eight fields, only four of which average more than 1,000 bpd.
Three of the fields, Granite Point, McArthur River and Swanson River, are operated by Hilcorp Alaska; Middle Ground Shoal is operated by ExxonMobil subsidiary XTO.
Six of the Cook Inlet fields, including all of the larger ones, had month-over-month production increases.
Granite Point averaged 2,182 bpd in January, up 2.4 percent from a December average of 2,130 bpd. McArthur River averaged 4,253 bpd in January, up 7.7 percent from a December average of 3,947 bpd. Middle Ground Shoal averaged 2,213 bpd in January, up 0.8 percent from a December average of 2,197 bpd. Swanson River averaged 2,204 bpd, up 8.6 percent from a December average of 2,028 bpd. Hilcorp has improved Swanson production substantially: the field averaged just 786 bpd in November.
Beaver Creek and Trading Bay, both operated by Hilcorp, saw month-over-month production increases, 11.6 percent at Beaver Creek (130 bpd in January) and 8 percent at Trading Bay (716 bpd in January).
Redoubt Shoal and West McArthur River, both operated by Cook Inlet Energy, had month-over-month declines, with Redoubt Shoal down 46 percent (144 bpd in January) and West McArthur River down 23.3 percent (556 bpd in January).
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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