Slope dips seasonally
North Slope production dipped in June compared with May but was up year-over-year over June 2024, ac - cording to state Department of Revenue production data available July 2. Total production averaged 462,434 barrels per day in June, down from 477,432 barrels per day in May but up from 439,255 barrels per day average in June 2024, the data indicated. The decline in June is typical for summer months on the North Slope because temperatures are warmer and produc - tion facilities operate less efficiently during cold months of winter. The seasonal decline was uniform across the four regions of the Slope where field production is metered and reported to the state for royalty ac - counting. The one exception in the June decline was in the Kuparuk River field where production gained slightly from a 111,634 barrels per day average in May to 113,605 barrels per day in June. Kuparuk was up more substantially
over June 2024, with an increase from an average of 85,503 barrels per day that month to 113,605 barrels per day in June 2025. What is driving the in - crease are new projects being brought online such as Nuna, a new deposit. The Kuparuk River field is owned and operated by ConocoPhillips. Another ConocoPhillips field on the Slope, Alpine, showed a marked decline in June. Alpine produced 44,986 barrels per day on average in June, down from an average of 49,250 barrels per day in May and 50,000 barrels per day on average in June 2024. The Prudhoe Bay field, largest on the North Slope, dipped in June to 288,014 barrels per day on average against 301,156 barrels per day on average in May but was up slightly from an average of 284,381 barrels per day in June 2024. Prudhoe Bay is oper - ated and owned partly by Hilcorp Ener - gy with ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil also owning shares of the field. The Lisburne field, smallest on the
North Slope, gained slightly in June to 15,705 barrels per day on average com - pared with an average of 15,412 barrels per day in May, but was down from 19,372 barrels per day on average in June 2024. Lisburne is owned and op - erated by Hilcorp. In other North Slope develop - ments, Hilcorp is continuing to ex - pand development at the Milne Point field which is adjacent to and north of the Prudhoe Bay field. Hilcorp filed an application with the state Depart - ment of Natural Resources on June 5 to expand its Milne Point S Pad with 22 new production wells. The new drilling would be done from mid-2026 through mid-2031, Hilcorp said in its application to the state. The company will also employ a polymer injection to stimulate production, a process Hilcorp has used on other wells at Milne Point. Milne Point holds sub - stantial reserves of viscous oil, which is cooler than conventional light crude oil and more difficult to produce. The poly - mer injection loosens the viscous oil. Milne Point has been a success sto - ry for Hilcorp. The field was formerly owned by BP and sold to Hilcorp in 2014. Milne Point produced about 18,000 bar - rels per day when it was sold, but in the years since, Hilcorp has invested heav - ily in new drilling and the adaption of new techniques such as polymer injec - tion, and today Milne Point production is over 50,000 barrels per day. Larger new fields are also under de - velopment on the Slope. Australia-based Santos, Ltd. and Repsol, based in Ma - drid, are developing the first phase of their new Pikka field near the produc - ing Alpine field. Santos, the operator at Pikka, hopes to have the new field com - pleted by the end of this year and for production to begin early in 2026. First phase production at Pikka in - volving one production pad will peak at 80,000 barrels per day. Development of a second phase with two more produc - tion pads will begin when first phase operations begin. Meanwhile, Cono - coPhillips is continuing construction at its new Willow field in the feder - al National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska just west of the producing Alpine field, which is on state-owned lands.
— Tim Bradner
THE LINK: SUMMER 2025
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