April ANS crude production holds level

Production averaged 566,234 bpd, up 0.2% from March average of 565,027 bpd; Cook Inlet production for March down 6% from February

Alaska North Slope crude oil production averaged 566,234 barrels per day in April, up 0.2 percent from a March average of 565,057 bpd, a month-over-month increase of 1,177 bpd. Production this April is up 11.8 percent from April 2016, when ANS production averaged 506,441 bpd, but that comparison is based on an anomaly: ANS April 2016 production was down 6.9 percent from a March 2016 average of 543,735 bpd because of a power outage at Prudhoe Bay on April 24, 2016, which drove Prudhoe production down 14.5 percent month-over-month.

The largest April-over-March ANS increase this year was at the ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Alpine field, which averaged 65,727 bpd in April, up 3.9 percent from a March average of 63,278 bpd, an increase of 2,449 bpd.

Alpine includes production from satellites at Fiord, Nanuq and Qannik.

Information for April is from the Alaska Department of Revenue’s Tax Division which reports North Slope oil production consolidated by major production centers and provides daily production and monthly averages. More detailed data, including Cook Inlet and individual North Slope fields and pools, is reported by the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission on a month-delay basis.

AOGCC data for March shows 82 percent of Alpine field production from the main reservoir, with 13 percent from Fiord, 2.5 percent from Nanuq and 2.8 percent from Qannik.

Other increases

The ConocoPhillips-operated Kuparuk River field had the largest per-barrel increase, up 1,459 bpd, averaging 147,287 bpd in April, a 1 percent increase from a March average of 145,828 bpd, and a 4.2 percent year-over-year increase from April 2016 production of 141,307 bpd. Kuparuk includes satellite production from Meltwater, Tabasco, Tarn and West Sak, as well as from the Eni-operated Nikaitchuq field and the Caelus Alaska-operated Oooguruk field.

AOGCC data show Nikaitchuq averaged 21,473 bpd in March, up 4.4 percent, 905 bpd, from a February average of 20,568, and Oooguruk averaged 14,324 bpd in March, up 0.3 percent, 44 bpd, from a February average of 24,280 bpd.

Nikaitchuq production is down 15.6 percent from a March 2016 average of 25,442 bpd; Oooguruk is up 49.3 percent from a March 2016 average of 9,596 bpd.

Lisburne, operated by BP Exploration (Alaska) and a part of greater Prudhoe Bay, averaged 25,225 bpd in April, up 3 percent, 746 bpd, from a March average of 24,479 bpd.

Prudhoe, Endicott down

Endicott averaged 15,626 bpd in April, down 2.8 percent, 451 bpd, from a March average of 16,077 bpd, but up 51.2 percent from April 2016, when production averaged 10,231. Endicott includes production from satellites at Eider, Minke and Sag Delta, as well as volumes from the Badami field operated by Glacier Oil & Gas subsidiary Savant Alaska and from the ExxonMobil Production Co.-operated Point Thomson field.

AOGCC data show Badami averaged 912 bpd in March, up 2.7 percent, 24 bpd, from a February average of 888 bpd, but down 12.6 percent year-over-year from a March 2016 average of 1,044 bpd.

Point Thomson came online in April 2016, so year-to-date production data are not yet available.

The field averaged 6,513 bpd in March, up 779 percent, 5,772 bpd, from a February average of 9,253 bpd. Tax Division data for February show production volumes from Endicott in the 9,500-10,500 bpd range for most of the month, not far above averages prior to Point Thomson coming online and probably indicating that Point Thomson was not contributing much production. In March, by contrast, Endicott volumes were above 15,000 bpd for more than half the month, indicating fairly steady Point Thomson production, with comparable figures for April.

At BP-operated Prudhoe, April production averaged 312,369 bpd, down 1 percent, 3,026 bpd, from a March volume of 315,395 bpd. Prudhoe includes satellite production from Aurora, Borealis, Midnight Sun, Orion, Polaris, Sag River, Schrader Bluff and Ugnu, as well as from the Hilcorp Alaska-operated Milne Point and Northstar fields.

AOGCC data show Milne Point averaged 21,687 bpd in March, up 10.4 percent from a February average of 19,652 and up 11.11 percent from a March 2016 average of 19,518 bpd, while Northstar averaged 7,874 bpd in March, up 41.8 percent from a February average of 5,553and up 42.9 percent from a March 2016 average of 5,510 bpd.

Cook Inlet down 6%

The largest percent and per-barrel increase was at the Glacier Oil & Gas-operated Redoubt Shoal field, which averaged 851 bpd in March, up 26.1 percent, 176 bpd, from a February average of 675 bpd.

Hilcorp Alaska’s Trading Bay field averaged 1,663 bpd in March, up 3.24 percent, 52 bpd, from a February average of 1,611 bpd.

The only other Cook Inlet field with a month-over-month production increase was Hilcorp’s Granite Point field, which averaged 2,481 bpd in March, up 0.9 percent from a February average of 2,458.

The largest month-over-month decline, 22.8 percent, was at Hilcorp’s Middle Ground Shoal field, where a subsea pipeline supplying fuel gas has been shut in. The field averaged 1,348 bpd in March, down 399 bpd from a February average of 1,747 bpd.

Hilcorp’s McArthur River field, Cook Inlet’s largest, averaged 3,254 bpd in March, down 14.4 percent, 548 bpd, from a February average of 3,802 bpd.

Glacier Oil & Gas’ West McArthur River field averaged 1,328 bpd, down 7 percent, 99 bpd, from a February average of 1,428 bpd.

Hilcorp’s Swanson River field averaged 1,924 bpd in March, down 3.3 percent, 65 bpd, from a February average of 1,989 bpd.

BlueCrest’s Hansen field, the Cosmopolitan project, averaged 146 bpd in March, down 2.53 percent, 4 bpd, from a February average of 150 bpd.

Hilcorp’s Beaver Creek field averaged 181 bpd, down 1 percent, 2 bpd, from a February total of 183 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.