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ANS output up 6% month-over-month Volumes up at North Slope fields except for Kuparuk; averaged 524,507 bpd in October; Cook Inlet September output down KRISTEN NELSON Petroleum News
Alaska North Slope crude oil production averaged 524,507 barrels per day in October, up 6.27 percent from a September average of 493,540 bpd, an increase of 30,967 bpd.
The largest month-over-month increase, in percentage and in volumes, was at the BP Exploration (Alaska)-operated Prudhoe Bay field, the North Slope’s largest field, which averaged 307,678 bpd in October, up 11.5 percent, 31,705 bpd, from a September average of 275,973 bpd.
Prudhoe Bay volumes include 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.
Information for October comes 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.
Milne Point production averaged 18,196 bpd in September, down 4.3 percent from 19,013 bpd in August, while Northstar averaged 6,323 bpd in September, up 3.6 percent from an August average of 6,100 bpd.
Lisburne up 9.2 percent BP-operated Lisburne, part of greater Prudhoe Bay, averaged 22,289 bpd in October, up 9.2 percent from a September average of 20,420 bpd. Lisburne volumes include production from Point McIntyre, Niakuk and Raven.
Endicott, operated by Hilcorp Alaska, averaged 9,565 bpd in October, up 4.7 percent from a September average of 9,133. Volumes reported as part of Endicott include Eider, Minke, Sag River and the Savant Alaska-operated Badami field. AOGCC data show Badami averaged 883 bpd in September, up 6.6 percent from an August average of 828 bpd.
The ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Alpine field averaged 45,598 bpd in October, up 0.4 percent from a September average of 46,417 bpd. Alpine includes satellite production from Fiord, Nanuq and Qannik.
The ConocoPhillips-operated Kuparuk River field showed a month-over-month drop in production, averaging 138,377 bpd in October, down 2.3 percent, 3,220 bpd, from a September average of 141,597. Volumes reported for Kuparuk include satellite production from Meltwater, Northeast West Sak, Tabasco, Tarn and West Sak, as well as from the Eni-operated Nikaitchuq field and the Caelus Alaska-operated Oooguruk field.
AOGCC data for Nikaitchuq show the field averaged 25,691 bpd in September, up 11.2 percent from an August average of 23,114 bpd, while Oooguruk averaged 10,523 bpd in September, up 5.4 percent from an August average of 9,988. Combined, the two fields represented more than 25 percent of the September volumes reported for Kuparuk.
Cook Inlet volume down Crude oil production from Cook Inlet averaged 17,129 bpd in September, down 2.5 percent from an August average of 17,569 bpd.
The steepest drop, both in percentage and in barrels, was at the Hilcorp Alaska-operated Middle Ground Shoal field, which averaged 1,446 bpd in September, down 25.7 percent from an August average of 1,944 bpd, a drop of 499 bpd.
Also showing month-over-month drops were Hilcorp’s Swanson River field, which averaged 2,428 bpd in September, down 3.2 percent, 79 bpd, from an August average of 2,507 bpd; Hilcorp’s Trading Bay field, down 2.9 percent to 2,929 bpd from an August average of 3,006 bpd, a drop of 77 bpd; and Hilcorp’s Granite Point field, which averaged 2,462 bpd in September, down 1.3 percent, 33 bpd, from an August average of 2,495 bpd.
All other Cook Inlet fields had month-over-month increases, led by Cook Inlet Energy’s Redoubt Shoal field, which averaged 979 bpd in September, up 14.6 percent, 125 bpd, from an August average of 854 bpd.
Hilcorp’s Beaver Creek, the inlet’s smallest producing oil field, averaged 121 bpd in September, up 6.5 percent from an August average of 113 bpd.
Hilcorp’s McArthur River field, Cook Inlet’s largest, averaged 5,493 bpd in September, up 1.9 percent, 103 bpd, from an August average of 5,390 bpd.
Cook Inlet Energy’s West McArthur River field averaged 1,272 bpd in September, up 1.1 percent, 14 bpd, from an August average of 1,258 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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