Sidebar: Cook Inlet gas down marginally in January

Kristen Nelson

Natural gas production from Cook Inlet averaged 225,761 thousand cubic feet per day in January, down marginally - 0.1%, 207 mcf per day - from a December average of 225,968 mcf and up 4% from a January 2020 average of 217,174 mcf.

Data are from the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which reports production on a month-delay basis. For natural gas AOGCC reports measurements in thousands of cubic feet, mcf.

Some 85% of Cook Inlet natural gas comes from the inlet’s eight largest fields.

Hilcorp’s Kenai gas field averaged 48,727 mcf per day in January, some 22% of total inlet production, up 7.2%, 3,254 mcf per day, from a December average of 45,473 mcf per day and up 46% from a January 2020 average of 33,368 mcf per day.

Hilcorp’s Ninilchik field averaged 31,284 mcf per day in January, some 14% of inlet production, down 0.1%, 43 mcf per day, from a December average of 31,326 mcf per day and down 19.4% from a January 2020 average of 38,800 mcf per day.

Hilcorp’s McArthur River field, the inlet’s largest oil field, averaged 25,137 mcf per day in January, some 11% of inlet gas production, down 10.5%, 2,959 mcf per day, from a December average of 28,096 mcf per day but up 16.3% from a January 2020 average of 21,610 mcf per day.

The Hilcorp-operated Beluga River field averaged 23,972 mcf per day in January, some 11% of inlet production, up 77 mcf per day, 0.3%, from a December average of 23,895 mcf per day and up 27.7% from a January 2020 average of 18,773 mcf per day.

Hilcorp’s Swanson River averaged 18,754 mcf per day in January, some 8% of inlet production, down 3.5%, 688 mcf per day, from a December average of 19,442 mcf per day and down 45.3% from a January 2020 average of 34,283 mcf per day.

Hilcorp’s North Cook Inlet averaged 16,369 mcf per day in January, some 7% of inlet production, down 5.4%, 933 mcf per day, from a December average of 17,302 mcf per day and down 6.6% from a January 2020 average of 17,529 mcf per day.

Furie’s Kitchen Lights averaged 14,571 mcf per day in January, some 6.5% of inlet production, down 0.8%, 119 mcf per day, from a December average of 14,690 mcf per day and up 0.5% from a January 2020 average of 14,496 mcf per day.

Hilcorp’s Beaver Creek averaged 12,526 mcf per day in January, some 5.5% of inlet production, up 4.7%, 566 mcf per day, from a December average of 11,961 mcf per day and up 80.4% from a January 2020 average of 6,944 mcf per day.

Smaller gas fields

Hilcorp’s Cannery Loop averaged 5,568 mcf per day in January, up 7.9%, 410 mcf per day, from a December average of 5,158 mcf per day and up 4.2% from a January 2020 average of 5,344 mcf per day.

The Kenai Loop field, operated by AIX, averaged 5,032 mcf per day in January, down 1%, 53 mcf per day, from a December average of 5,085 mcf per day and down 3.7% from a January 2020 average of 5,223 mcf per day.

Hilcorp’s Granite Point averaged 3,744 mcf per day in January, down 0.8%, 29 mcf per day, from a December average of 3,773 mcf per day but up 13.5% from a January 2020 average of 3,299 mcf per day.

Hilcorp’s Deep Creek averaged 3,368 mcf per day in January, down 3.7%, 128 mcf per day, from a December average of 3,496 mcf per day and down 15.8% from a January 2020 average of 3,998 mcf per day.

BlueCrest’s Hansen field averaged 3,204 mcf per day in January, up 15.1%, 419 mcf per day, from a December average of 2,784 mcf per day but down 32.6% from a January 2020 average of 4,753 mcf per day.

Gardes Holdings’ North Fork field averaged 3,048 mcf per day in January, down 2.5%, 78 mcf per day, from a December average of 3,126 mcf per day and down 5.5% from a January 2020 average of 3,225 mcf per day.

Hilcorp’s Trading Bay averaged 2,307 mcf per day in January, up 2.6%, 57 mcf per day, from a December average of 2,250 mcf per day but down 9.2% from a January 2020 average of 2,540 mcf per day.

Hilcorp’s Lewis River averaged 953 mcf per day in January, down 2.1%, 21 mcf per day, from a December average of 973 mcf per day and down 35% from a January 2020 average of 1,465 mcf per day.

Amaroq’s Nicolai Creek averaged 387 mcf per day in January, up 1.7%, 6 mcf per day, from a December average of 381 mcf per day and up 74% from a January 2020 average of 222 mcf per day.

Hilcorp’s Nikolaevsk averaged 323 mcf per day in January, down 1.5%, 5 mcf per day, from a December average of 328 mcf per day and down 21.8% from a January 2020 average of 414 mcf per day.

Hilcorp’s Middle Ground Shoal averaged 222 mcf per day in January, down 14.8%, 38 mcf per day, from a December average of 260 mcf per day and down 4.4% from a January 2020 average of 232 mcf per day.

Cook Inlet natural gas production peaked in the mid-1990s at more than 850,000 mcf per day.

- KRISTEN NELSON