Oil production on Slope tallies a sharp 18 percent increase

The completion of planned summer maintenance projects at some North Slope oil fields accounted for part of the sharp increase, although production was down at some fields as the maintenance continued through September.

"Production is typically lower in the summer, so summer maintenance has the least impact on production and people and equipment can be moved around more safely than in winter," said Steve Rinehart, spokesman for BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. BP runs most of the North Slope fields.

At the huge Prudhoe Bay field, production jumped 53 percent in September, averaging 344,805 barrels a day.

Major maintenance work began there in June, with 200 to 250 BP employees and contractors working through projects at the field's Gathering Centers, gigantic plants that process oil from a multitude of wells.

The Prudhoe production figure includes oil from the Aurora, Borealis, Midnight Sun, Orion and Polaris satellite fields nearby.

At the Slope's second-largest field, Kuparuk River, production averaged 150,446 barrels a day, up 1 percent from August.

Kuparuk production includes oil from the Tabasco, Tarn, Meltwater and West Sak reservoirs, as well as production from the Pioneer Natural Resources Alaska-operated Oooguruk field, the newest field in Alaska's arctic. Oooguruk was averaging 8,654 barrels a day in August, the most recent separate figures for the field.

The third-largest field, Alpine, averaged 100,128 barrels a day, down 4 percent. Alpine numbers include oil from the Fiord, Nanuq and Qannik satellites.

Here's production from the other oil fields:

• Lisburne was the other field that showed production declines in September, besides Alpine. Production averaged 29,084 barrels a day, down 4 percent.

• BP's Milne Point field averaged 28,739 barrels a day in September, up 5 percent. Milne Point production includes oil from the Sag River and Schrader Bluff deposits.

• The Endicott field averaged 13,988 barrels a day in September, up 6 percent.

• Northstar averaged 9,474 barrels a day, down 58 percent. Northstar was the last Slope field to get its planned maintenance, with much of September affected. By early October, production was above 23,000 barrels a day, returning to production levels the field saw in August.

In Cook Inlet, production averaged 3,323 bpd in September, up 9 percent from August. Production fell after a key oil storage terminal near Mount Redoubt shut down last spring because of the volcano's eruptions.