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November ANS crude up 1% from October Largest per-barrel increase at Prudhoe, largest percentage increase at Kuparuk; Cook Inlet holds steady in October at 15,889 bpd Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
Alaska North Slope crude oil production averaged 544,221 barrels per day in November, up 1.12 percent (6,015 bpd) from an October average of 538,206 bpd, but down 0.9 percent from a November 2016 average of 549,263 bpd.
The largest per-barrel month-over-month increase was that reported for the BP Exploration (Alaska)-operated Prudhoe Bay field, which averaged 311,356 bpd in November, up 1.4 percent (4,270 bpd) from an October average of 307,086 bpd, and down 2.8 percent from a November 2016 average of 320,368.
Prudhoe production, as reported by the Alaska Department of Revenue’s Tax Division, includes satellite production from Aurora, Borealis, Midnight Sun, Orion, Polaris, Sag River, Schrader Bluff and Ugnu; the Hilcorp Alaska-operated Endicott (and satellites Eider and Minke), Milne Point and Northstar fields; Badami, operated by Glacier Oil & Gas subsidiary Savant; and ExxonMobil Production Co.-operated Point Thomson.
The Tax Division consolidates North Slope oil production by major facilities rather than reporting individual fields, providing 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.
Fields included with Prudhoe AOGCC data for October show Badami averaged 819 bpd, down 1.6 percent, 14 barrels, from a September average of 833 bpd.
Endicott averaged 6,806 bpd in October, up 29.3 percent (1,541 bpd) from a September average of 5,264 bpd, Milne Point averaged 18,738 bpd in October, up 3.7 percent, 675 bpd, from a September average of 18,063, while Northstar averaged 8,138 bpd, up 9.7 percent, 719 bpd, from a September average of 7,419 bpd. Northstar was up 50.4 percent year-over-year, from a September 2016 average of 5,409 bpd.
But the largest-year-over-year increase was at Point Thomson, where production has been up and down since the field came online in April 2016. In October 2016 Point Thomson averaged 31 bpd; this October the field averaged 7,492 bpd, up almost 350 percent from 5,822 bpd in September, and up some 240 times from 31 bpd in 2016.
Point Thomson was built to accommodate 10,000 bpd of condensate, and ExxonMobil has told the Division of Oil and Gas that problems in reaching that production level were based on gas injection compressor difficulties. ExxonMobil provided extensive information on the problems and the division said in August that it was hopeful that the problems are resolved.
Kuparuk production up Production from the ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Kuparuk River field averaged 143,884 bpd in November, up 2.4 percent, 3,321 bpd, from an October average of 140,563 bpd, but down 1.4 percent from a November 2016 average of 145,906 bpd.
Kuparuk volumes include satellite production from Meltwater, Tabasco, Tarn and West Sak, as well as production from the Eni-operated Nikaitchuq field and the Caelus Alaska-operated Oooguruk field.
AOGCC data show that Nikaitchuq averaged 19,766 bpd in October, down 0.5 percent, 102 bpd, from a September average of 19,867, and down 12.5 percent from an October 2016 average of 22,592 bpd.
Oooguruk averaged 12,029 bpd in October, up 14.6 percent from a September average of 10,493, but down 4.2 percent from an October 2016 average of 12,558 bpd.
BP-operated Lisburne, part of greater Prudhoe Bay, averaged 25,465 bpd in November, down 1.9 percent, 505 bpd, from an October average of 25,970, but up 11.9 percent from a November 2016 average of 22,763 bpd.
Lisburne volumes include Niakuk, Point McIntyre and Raven.
ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Colville River averaged 63,516 bpd in November, down 1.7 percent, 1,071 bpd, from an October average of 64,587, but up 5.5 percent from a November 2016 average of 60,226 bpd. Volumes include the Alpine main field and satellite production from Fiord, Nanuq and Qannik.
Cook Inlet production steady Cook Inlet production averaged 15,889 bpd in October, down marginally from a September average of 15,898 bpd.
The largest month-over-month change was at Hilcorp Alaska’s Middle Ground Shoal field, which came back online in September. In October the field averaged 1,554 bpd, up 138.3 percent, 902 bpd, from a September average of 652 bpd.
All other Cook Inlet fields had month-over-month average production declines.
Hilcorp’s Beaver Creek, Cook Inlet’s smallest, averaged 131 bpd in October, down 7.2 percent from a September average of 141 bpd.
BlueCrest’s Hansen field, the Cosmopolitan project, averaged 232 bpd in October, down 26.7 percent from a September average of 316 bpd.
The Glacier Oil & Gas Redoubt Shoal field averaged 1,180 bpd in October, down 30.7 percent from a September average of 1,702 bpd, while Glacier’s West McArthur River field averaged 1,202 bpd in October, down 0.7 percent from a September average of 1,210 bpd.
Hilcorp’s Swanson River averaged 1,757 bpd in October, down 5 percent from a September average of 1,848 bpd; the company’s Trading Bay field averaged 1,945 bpd in October, down 2.3 percent from a September average of 1,990 bpd.
Hilcorp’s Granite Point field averaged 2,333 bpd in October, down 0.2 percent from a September average of 2,339, and the company’s McArthur River field, Cook Inlet’s largest, averaged 5,555 bpd, down 2.5 percent from a September average of 5,699 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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