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April North Slope production down 3 percent from March
Kristen Nelson Petroleum News editor-in-chief
April crude oil production from Alaska’s North Slope averaged 976,428 barrels per day, down 3 percent from a March average of 1,006,790 bpd. All reporting areas had decreases and the Alaska Department of Revenue attributed the drop in production to the seasonal increase in North Slope temperatures, up by 10 degrees from March, which reduced gas handling, and to work at Northstar.
Northstar had the steepest month-to-month decline, averaging 63,351 bpd in April, down 12.7 percent from a March average of 72,597 bpd, a drop of an average 9,246 bpd. Revenue said work was continuing on the Northstar crude stabilizer. Production at Northstar reached a low 19,559 bpd April 13. Crude stabilizer problem at Northstar fixed BP Exploration (Alaska) spokesman Daren Beaudo told Petroleum News May 5 that the problem has been fixed.
He said the crude stabilizer — a metal vessel — is part of the crude separation process. “When it wasn’t working,” Beaudo said, “foam was carrying over into a flare knock-out drum, making it possible that liquid hydrocarbons could be released through the flare system.”
Northstar is a zero discharge facility, so BP ran at lower rates, rather than risk a liquids release.
“A water wash of the crude stabilizer on April 13 indicated naturally occurring salts were fouling the system” and causing the problem.
“Rates returned to normal as a result of the work,” Beaudo said.
Since April 18, rates have been more than 70,000 barrels per day.
“We’ve actually gone over 80,000 bpd twice,” he said.
And, because the water wash of the tank was successful, “there’s not a current need to go into the vessel to perform any other fix,” although Beaudo said that BP might take a look inside if production at the field was stopped for any other reason. Volumes down across the North Slope Volumes through the Lisburne production center dropped 4.9 percent, averaging 56,449 bpd in April compared to 59,337 bpd in March. Lisburne processes oil from the Lisburne, Point McIntyre and Niakuk fields.
Milne Point production was down 3 percent, averaging 49,685 bpd in April vs. 51,245 bpd in March.
Alpine production was down 2.2 percent, averaging 105,454 bpd in April compared to 107,852 bpd in March.
Production from the Kuparuk River field, including Tabasco, Tarn, Meltwater and Palm, was down 2.1 percent, averaging 194,496 bpd in April vs. 198,755 bpd in March.
Prudhoe Bay production, including Midnight Sun, Aurora, Polaris, Borealis and Orion, was down 2 percent in April, averaging 478,176 bpd compared to 488,020 bpd in March.
Endicott, which includes Eider, was down only 0.6 percent, averaging 28,817 bpd in April vs. 28,984 bpd in March.
The average temperature for the month at Pump Station No. 1 on the North Slope averaged 4.6 degrees Fahrenheit, up from a March average of minus 13.9 degrees F.
Cook Inlet production averaged 24,548 bpd, up marginally from a March average of 24,530 bpd.
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