September production down 2.5

Kristen Nelson

Alaska North Slope crude oil production for September averaged 913,038 barrels a day, down 2.5 percent (23,101 barrels a day) from an August average of 936,139 barrels a day.

There was a 27-hour shutdown of the trans-Alaska pipeline Sept. 16 for maintenance and two valve projects and a September production graph by the Department of Revenue shows that other than decreased production in response to that shutdown, ANS production over the month of September rose gradually from daily averages close to 900,000 barrels a day at the beginning of the month to daily averages of around 990,000 barrels a day at the end of the month.

Production from Lisburne (including the Lisburne, Point McIntyre and Niakuk fields) held about level — 89,451 barrels a day in September compared to 89,369 barrels a day in August, an increase of less than 1 percent.

All other North Slope fields saw production decline from August to September, driven by steep production cuts at mid-month due to the pipeline shutdown.

Prudhoe Bay production averaged 513,537 barrels a day in September, down 2.9 percent (15,552 barrels) a day from an August average of 529,089 barrels a day. Production at Kuparuk averaged 223,506 barrels a day in September, down 1.4 percent (3,086 barrels a day) from an August average of 226,592 barrels a day. Milne Point production averaged 49,924 barrels a day in September, down 4.9 percent (2,565 barrels a day) from an August average of 52,489 barrels a day. Endicott had the steepest percentage decline, averaging 36,620 barrels a day, down 5.1 percent (1,980 barrels a day) from an August average of 38,600 barrels a day.

Cook Inlet production dropped to an average of 27,316 barrels a day, down 2.6 percent (726 barrels a day) from an August average of 28,042 barrels a day.