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October Alaska North Slope production down 3 percent
Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
Alaska North Slope production for October was down 3.4 percent from September, averaging 588,287 barrels per day compared to 608,680 bpd in September.
With the exception of the BP Exploration (Alaska)-operated Northstar field, all other North Slope fields had month-over-month decreases in production.
Except where noted, volumes are from the Alaska Department of Revenue’s Tax Division, which tracks oil production by major production centers and provides daily production and monthly averages.
The largest percent decrease, 15.6 percent, was at BP’s Milne Point field, which averaged 18,826 bpd in October, down from 22,312 bpd in September, a difference of 3,486 bpd.
The largest barrel difference was at the BP-operated Prudhoe Bay field, which averaged 293,643 bpd in October, down 4.3 percent, 13,053 bpd, from a September average of 306,696 bpd.
Prudhoe Bay includes satellite production from Aurora, Borealis, Midnight Sun, Orion and Polaris. The most recent data by field and pool from the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission is for August. In that month, Prudhoe Bay itself produced 5,863,649 barrels. The satellite with the largest production was Borealis at 349,510 barrels, followed by Aurora at 266,807 barrels, Orion at 256,508 barrels, Polaris at 162,582 barrels and Midnight Sun at 45,303 barrels.
Kuparuk River The smallest production drop was at the ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Kuparuk River field, which averaged 137,657 bpd in October, down 0.2 percent, just 311 barrels, from a September average of 137,968 bpd.
Kuparuk includes production from satellites at Meltwater, Tabasco and Tarn, as well as West Sak viscous oil production, and production from the Eni-operated Nikaitchuq field and the Pioneer Natural Resources Alaska-operated Oooguruk field. AOGCC figures for August show the majority of Kuparuk oil is from the main reservoir, 2,826,328 barrels, with West Sak coming in second at 489,228 barrels, followed by Tarn at 320,743 barrels, Meltwater at 86,187 barrels and Tabasco at 49,888 barrels.
August production from Nikaitchuq was 196,442 barrels, some 6,337 bpd; August Oooguruk production was 186,161 barrels, some 6,005 bpd.
Colville River Alpine, operated by ConocoPhillips Alaska, averaged 82,194 bpd in October, down 1.6 percent, some 1,315 bpd, from a September average of 83,509 bpd.
The Alpine field is the main producer at the Colville River unit, the farthest west production on the North Slope, but the unit also has production from the Fiord, Nanuq and Qannik satellite fields. AOGCC figures for August show Alpine accounting for some 71 percent of production, followed by Fiord at 26 percent, Qannik at 2 percent and Nanuq at 1 percent.
The BP-operated Lisburne field averaged 31,041 bpd in October, down 6.6 percent from a September average of 33,250 bpd. Lisburne includes production from the Point McIntyre and Niakuk fields.
The BP-operated Endicott field averaged 11,893 bpd in October, down 3.8 percent, some 466 barrels, from a September average of 12,359 bpd. Endicott includes production from Badami, which according to AOGCC figures for August, averaged 1,143 bpd in that month.
The BP-operated Northstar field, the only North Slope field with increased production October-over-September, averaged 13,033 bpd in October, up 3.6 percent, 447 bpd, from a September average of 12,586 bpd.
Cook Inlet The temperature at Pump Station 1 on the North Slope averaged 26.3 degrees F in October, compared to an average of 38.8 F in September.
Cook Inlet production averaged 10,641 bpd in October, down 18.9 percent, some 2,485 bpd, from a September average of 13,126 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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