|
ANS production down marginally in April
Average 513,257 bpd, compared to 516,869 bpd in March, drop of less than 1%, but down 5.5% from April 2017 average of 543,252 bpd Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
Alaska North Slope crude oil production averaged 513,257 barrels per day in April, down 0.7 percent, 3,612 bpd, from a March average of 516,869 bpd, and down 5.5 percent from an April 2017 average of 543,252 bpd.
Production data is from the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which provides volumes by well on a month-delay basis, making April the most recent data available.
The largest month-over-month per-barrel decline was at the ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Kuparuk River field, which averaged 113,047 bpd in April, down 5.8 percent, 6,917 bpd, from a March average of 119,964, but down only 0.4 percent from an April 2017 average of 113,458 bpd.
In addition to the main Kuparuk pool, Kuparuk produces from satellites at Meltwater, Tabasco and Tarn, and from West Sak.
The Caelus Alaska-operated Oooguruk field had the largest month-over-month percentage drop in production, down 12.3 percent, 1,135 bpd, averaging 8,083 bpd in April compared to 9,218 bpd in March, and down 47.1 percent from an April 2017 average of 15,280 bpd.
Point Thomson Point Thomson, operated by ExxonMobil Production Co., averaged 5,291 bpd in April for those days when there was production, down 5.5 percent, 305 bpd, from a March average of 5,596, and down 31.3 percent from an April 2017 average of 7,699 bpd. The company told the Alaska Division of Oil and Gas last year that production was impacted by “difficulties with its gas injection compressor,” and said, “it was conducting maintenance or repairs on the compressor during periods when production ceased or decreased.”
Facilities at Point Thomson are designed to produce 10,000 bpd. In April, the field had production - from its single well - for 18 days, with the production on those 18 days making the well the third most productive in the state, behind only two wells at ConocoPhillips’ CD5 pad at the Colville River unit, which averaged 7,762 bpd and 5,378 bpd.
Endicott, Nikaitchuq Endicott, operated by Hilcorp Alaska, averaged 6,295 bpd in April, down 4.6 percent, 306 bpd, from a March average of 6,601 bpd, and down 16.3 percent from an April 2017 average of 7,519 bpd.
The Eni-operated Nikaitchuq field averaged 13,652 bpd in April, down 1.4 percent, 192 bpd, from a March average of 13,844 bpd, and down 22.3 percent from an April 2017 average of 17,572 bpd.
Other fields saw increases The largest per-barrel month-over-month increase was at the BP-operated Prudhoe Bay field, which averaged 267,915 bpd in April, up 1.5 percent, 3,932 bpd, from a March average of 263,983 bpd, but down 7.8 percent from an April 2017 average of 282,769 bpd.
In addition to Prudhoe oil, production from the Prudhoe Bay field includes other pools: Aurora, Borealis, Lisburne, Midnight Sun, Niakuk, Polaris, Point McIntyre, Put River, Raven and Schrader Bluff.
The largest percentage month-over-month increase was at the Hilcorp Alaska-operated Northstar field, which averaged 9,257 bpd in April, up 3.8 percent, 339 bpd, from a March average of 8,918 bpd, and up 18.4 percent from an April 2017 average of 7,817 bpd.
The ConocoPhillips-operated Colville River unit averaged 67,249 bpd in April, up 1.2 percent, 802 bpd, from a March average of 66,447 bpd, and down 2.5 percent from an April 2017 average of 68,958 bpd.
In addition to oil from the main Alpine pool, Colville production includes satellite production from Fiord, Nanuq and Qannik.
The Hilcorp Alaska-operated Milne Point field averaged 21,770 bpd in April, up 0.8 percent, 168 bpd, from a March average of 21,602, and up 2.2 percent from an April 2017 average of 21,304 bpd.
Badami, operated by Savant Alaska, a Glacier Oil & Gas company, averaged 698 bpd in April, up 0.3 percent, 2 bpd, from a March average of 696 bpd, and down 20.3 percent from an April 2017 average of 876 bpd.
Cook Inlet Cook Inlet production averaged 16,095 bpd in April, up 2.2 percent, 347 bpd, from a March average of 15,748.
Hilcorp’s Beaver Creek field averaged 90 bpd, down 6.3 percent from a March average of 96 bpd.
Granite Point, also operated by Hilcorp, averaged 2,848 bpd in April, down 3.2 percent from a March average of 2,942 bpd.
BlueCrest’s Hansen field, the Cosmopolitan project, averaged 765 bpd in April, down 4.3 percent from a March average of 799 bpd.
The Hilcorp-operated McArthur River field, Cook Inlet’s largest, averaged 5,283 bpd in April, up 10.6 percent from an April average of 4,776 bpd.
Hilcorp’s Middle Ground Shoal field averaged 1,483 bpd in April, down 4 percent from an April average of 1,544 bpd.
Redoubt Shoal, operated by Cook Inlet Energy, a Glacier Oil & Gas company, averaged 1,367 bpd in April, up 4 percent from a March average of 1,314 bpd.
Hilcorp’s Swanson River field averaged 1,505 bpd in April, up 2.7 percent from a March average of 1,465 bpd.
Trading Bay, also a Hilcorp field, averaged 1,754 bpd in April, down 3.2 percent from a March average of 1,811 bpd.
West McArthur River, operated by Glacier Oil & Gas company Cook Inlet Energy, averaged 1,000 bpd in April, down 0.1 percent from a March average of 1,001 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.
|
