The Link - Winter 2024

www.AlaskaAlliance.com 33 Pipeline Construction & Maintenance | EPC Contracting Powerplant Construction | General Contracting Anchorage | Deadhorse | 907.278.4400 | www.pricegregory.com Thousands of Miles of Experience Committed to Client Satisfaction Dedicated to Safety Excellence CONTINUED from PAGE 31 offer a conservative forecast without binary assumptions. If the projects are delivered as proposed and on schedule, production will likely exceed forecasted amounts in those periods,” Henry said. “In the DNR forecast it is not expected that those projects will be at peak production at the same time,” she said, meaning that the first new field, Pikka, may begin a decline while Willow, the second new field, will be at its peak output,” she said. Production in the larger fields is also declining faster than expected. North Slope production was projected last year to reach 496,400 barrels per day for FY 2024, the current year. It is now expected to be 470,300 barrels per day, based on production for the first five months of the fiscal year, which began July 1. The state’s long-term state forecasts are done yearly in December. Alaska’s forecast also includes per-barrel production operations costs, which the state requires producers to submit as a part of Alaska’s net profits production tax. Field operating costs on the North Slope rose from $15.08 per barrel last year, in FY 2023, to $16.17 per barrel this year, for FY 2024, and are projected by the producers to reach $16.99 per barrel next year, in FY 2025. Transportation costs from the North Slope fields to refineries, mostly on the U.S. west coast, averaged $9.61 per barrel last year, in FY 2023, according to data from shippers included with the tax submissions by company taxpayers. Transportation costs are projected at $10.75 per barrel for both the current year, FY 2024, and next year, FY 2025, according to the state forecast. — Tim Bradner

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