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July ANS volumes down 15% at 409,720 bpd Decline driven by 26-day turnaround at Alpine beginning July 9 and July 17-18 maintenance shutdown of trans-Alaska oil pipeline Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
Alaska North Slope production saw a major month-over-month drop in July largely driven by a major field turnaround at Alpine and a maintenance shutdown on the trans-Alaska oil pipeline.
ANS production averaged 409,720 barrels per day in July, down 71,802 bpd, 14.9%, from a June average of 481,522 bpd and down 15% from a July 2020 average of 482,029 bpd. Crude volumes were 370,903 bpd, 90.5% of the total, down 60,337 bpd, 14%, from a June volume of 431,240 bpd and down 14.3% from a July 2020 volume of 432,764 bpd and 38,817 bpd of natural gas liquids, 9.5% of total volume, down 11,464 bpd, 22.8%, from a June average of 50,282 bpd and down 21.2% from a July 2020 average of 49,265 bpd.
Production was down from all North Slope fields except Eni’s Nikaitchuq, with the largest month-over-month decreases on the western side of the Slope.
Turnaround, maintenance shutdown There was a 26-day turnaround at ConocoPhillips Alaska’s Colville River unit which began July 9 and ended Aug. 3, affecting the Alpine and Greater Mooses’ Tooth fields.
In an Aug. 26 email, ConocoPhillips Alaska spokeswoman Rebecca Boys said: “The Alpine Turnaround was very successful from a scope completion, duration and safety perspective.”
Work accomplished during the turnaround included:
*Completion of the Alpine gas expansion (with turbine, compressor, gas cooling and gas dehydration upgrades).
*Completion of Alpine slug-catcher critical tie-ins.
*Completion of Alpine power expansion critical tie-ins (with switchgear and fuel gas system upgrades) and
*Completion of final GMT2 tie-ins.
Impacting production Slope-wide was the 30-hour turnaround July 17-18 of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline by Alyeska Pipeline Service Co.
It was the first major maintenance shutdown of the line since August 2019, Alyeska said, and the only long-duration shutdown scheduled for the year (see story in July 25 issue of Petroleum News). Two short-duration shutdowns, 12 hours or less, were scheduled for August.
Work during Alyeska’s maintenance shutdown included:
*Replacement of piping previous used to inject drag reducing agent at Pump Station 1 and replacing it with 48-inch straight piping.
*Installation of new actuators on Pump Station 1’s two large oil tanks.
*Installation of 87 feet of 48-inch piping between two valves at Pump Station 7.
*Systemwide upgrading of the safety integrity pressure protection system and
*Various value work, testing and cabling repairs.
Colville, Greater Mooses Tooth The largest ANS percentage reductions were at ConocoPhillips Alaska’s western North Slope operations, the Colville River unit and at Greater Mooses Tooth, with production down following the July 9 shutdown.
Colville River production averaged 10,651 bpd in July, down 75.7%, 33,174 bpd, from a June average of 43,825 bpd and down 78.5% from a July 2020 average of 49,429 bpd.
Production data come from the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission which reports production by field and well on a month delay basis.
In addition to oil from the main Alpine pool, Colville production includes satellite production from Nanuq and Qannik.
Crude from Greater Mooses Tooth in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska is processed at Alpine facilities, and averaged 675 bpd in July, down 1,826 bpd, 73%, from a June average of 2,501 bpd and down 68% from a July 2020 average of 2,110 bpd.
Prudhoe Bay, Kuparuk The Hilcorp North Slope-operated Prudhoe Bay field, the Slope’s largest, averaged 226,412 bpd in July, down 11.9%, 30,703 bpd, from a June average of 257,115 bpd and down 9.5% from a July 2020 average of 250,038 bpd.
Crude production accounted for 84.2% of Prudhoe output, an average of 190,735 bpd, down 20,374 bpd, 9.7%, from a June average of 211,109 bpd and down 7% from a July 2020 average of 205,181 bpd. Prudhoe NGL production averaged 35,677 bpd, 15.8% of the field’s output, down 10,330 bpd, 22.5%, from a June average of 46,007 bpd and down 20.5% from a July 2020 average of 44,857 bpd.
In addition to the primary reservoir, production volumes from Prudhoe include Aurora, Borealis, Lisburne, Midnight Sun, Niakuk, Polaris, Point McIntyre, Put River, Raven and Schrader Bluff.
The ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Kuparuk River field, the second largest Slope field, averaged 89,170 bpd in July, down 1,737 bpd, 1.9%, from a June average of 90,907 bpd and down 6.2% from a July 2020 average of 95,018 bpd.
In addition to the main Kuparuk pool, Kuparuk produces from satellites at Meltwater, Tabasco and Tarn, and from West Sak.
Smaller Slope fields Eni’s Nikaitchuq was the only North Slope field with a month-over-month production increase. It averaged 18,629 bpd in July, up 1,116 bpd, 6.4%, from a June average of 17,513 bpd although down 3.5% from a July 2020 average of 19,297 bpd.
Two fields had very small month-over-month declines.
Badami, operated by Savant, a Glacier Oil and Gas company, averaged 1,076 bpd in July, down just 7 bpd, 0.7%, from a June average of 1,084 bpd. The field was shut-in last July.
The ExxonMobil Production-operated Point Thomson field also had a small month-over-month decline, averaging 9,435 bpd in July, down just 32 bpd, 0.3%, from a June average of 9,467 bpd and up 4.1% from a July 2020 average of 9,066 bpd.
Hilcorp’s Milne Point field averaged 34,861 bpd in July, down 2,617 bpd, 7%, from a June average of 37,478 bpd but up 6.3% from a July 2020 average of 32,784 bpd.
Hilcorp’s Northstar averaged 6,673 bpd in July, down 18.7%, 1,535 bpd, from a June average of 8,207 bpd and down 28.7% from a July 2020 average of 9,356 bpd. Crude oil from Northstar averaged 4,031 bpd, 60.4% of the field’s production, down 748 bpd, 15.7%, from a June average of 4,779 bpd and down 30.2% from a July 2020 average of 5,775 bpd. Northstar NGLs, 39.6% of the field’s volume, averaged 2,642 bpd in July, down 786 bpd, 22.9%, from a June average of 3,428 bpd and down 26.2% from a July 2020 average of 3,581 bpd.
Eni’s Oooguruk averaged 6,613 bpd in July, down 3.4%, 233 bpd, from a July average of 6,846 bpd and down 12.4% from a July 2020 average of 7,549 bpd.
The Hilcorp-operated Endicott field averaged 5,525 bpd in July, down 16%, 1,053 bpd, from a June average of 6,578 bpd and down 25.1% from a July 2020 average of 7,380 bpd. Endicott crude, 91% of the field’s volume, averaged 5,026 bpd in July, down 12.3%, 705 bpd, from a June average of 5,731 bpd and down 23.3% from a July 2020 average of 6,554 bpd. Endicott NGLs, 9% of volume, averaged 499 bpd in July, down 41.1%, 348 bpd, from a June average of 847 bpd and down 39.7% from a July 2020 average of 827 bpd.
Cook Inlet up 4% July oil volumes from Cook Inlet averaged 9,240 bpd, up 4%, 359 bpd, from a June average of 8,881 bpd although down 18.5% from a July 2020 average of 11,341 bpd. With the exception of a small volume of NGLs from the Swanson River unit, 157 bpd in July, 1.7% of the inlet total, Cook Inlet liquids are crude oil.
Hilcorp’s McArthur River field, Cook Inlet’s largest, averaged 3,360 bpd in July, down 91 bpd, 2.7%, from a June average of 3,452 bpd and down 9.3% from a July 2020 average of 3,707 bpd.
Hilcorp’s Granite Point averaged 2,637 bpd in July, up 36 bpd, 1.4%, from a June average of 2,601 bpd and down 16.4% from a July 2020 average of 3,155 bpd.
Hilcorp’s Trading Bay averaged 1,050 bpd in July, up 184 bpd, 21.2%, from a June average of 866 bpd and down 18.4% from a July 2020 average of 1,286 bpd.
BlueCrest’s Hansen field averaged 893 bpd in July, down 22 bpd, 2.4%, from a June average of 915 bpd and down 9.1% from a July 2020 average of 982 bpd.
Hilcorp’s Swanson River averaged 907 bpd in July (750 bpd of crude and 157 bpd of NGLs), up 43 bpd, 5%, from a June average of 864 bpd and up 11% from a July 2020 average of 817 bpd.
Hilcorp’s Beaver Creek averaged 393 bpd in July, up 212 bpd, 116.8%, from a June average of 181 bpd and up 196.5% from a July 2020 average of 132 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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