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March North Slope temperature down, production up Prudhoe Bay and Alpine fields show largest gains Kristen Nelson PNA Editor-in-Chief
Alaska North Slope oil production averaged 1,045,069 barrels per day in March, up 3 percent from a February average of 1,014,679 bpd. With the exception of Endicott, where turbine inspection reduced production March 16-22, production increased across the slope as temperatures dropped.
The colder the weather, the more efficiently gas compressors work, allowing larger volumes of gas to be reinjected. North Slope production is gas constrained: the ability to handle produced gas is the limiting factor on oil production.
In March the weather got cold. The temperature for the month at Pump Station No. 1 averaged -13.8 degrees F (the four-year March average was -8.5 degrees F). Temperatures earlier in the year had been warm: February averaged -0.1 degrees F (against a four-year average of -12.7 degrees F) and January averaged -4.7 degrees F (against a four-year average of -9.2 degrees F).
Alpine ramping up Also driving North Slope production levels is the slope’s newest field, Alpine, which averaged 80,543 bpd in March — the first month in which the field has averaged 80,000 bpd, expected to be its peak production level. Production at the field started in mid-November at less than 30,000 bpd. March production at Alpine was up 9.93 percent from an average of 73,269 bpd in February.
The Lisburne Production Center (which processes Lisburne, Point McIntyre and Niakuk crude) was up 4.03 percent, averaging 84,488 bpd for March compared to 81,212 bpd in February.
Prudhoe Bay production was up an average of 19,721 bpd for March — some two-thirds of the slope-wide increase — averaging 566,433 bpd, a 3.61 percent increase from a February average of 546,712 bpd.
Milne Point averaged 54,688 bpd for March, up 3.05 percent from 53,068 bpd for February.
The smallest percentage March increase was at Kuparuk River (Kuparuk, West Sak, Tabasco and Tarn fields) which averaged 225,131 bpd, up 1.05 percent from an average of 222,797 bpd in February.
The only field where production dropped, Endicott averaged 33,786 bpd in March, down 10.19 percent from a February average of 37,621 bpd. The Alaska Department of Revenue said Endicott production dropped to below 30,000 bpd March 16-22 due to turbine inspection.
Prudhoe Bay natural gas liquids production averaged 50,700 bpd in March, up 4.33 percent from 48,596 bpd for March.
Total Cook Inlet production averaged 29,046 bpd, up 6.72 percent from the February average of 27,216 bpd.
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