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Cook Inlet production edged down in FY24; basin remains key to in‑state fuel supply
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Summary
DNR presented a fiscal‑year 2024 Cook Inlet summary showing a roughly 5% decline to about 8,500 barrels per day; staff said the basin remains critical for feedstock to in‑state refineries and that some well work modestly offset declines in select fields.
Cochair Joseph presiding — The Department of Natural Resources presented a fiscal‑year 2024 summary for the Cook Inlet basin that showed continued long‑term decline but isolated rate gains where operators performed well work.
Travis Peltier told lawmakers the Cook Inlet is a mature basin with seven decades of production; the division’s FY24 chart used a 0–20,000 bpd scale and showed basin production around 8,500 barrels per day for FY24, a decline of about 450 bpd (5%) from the prior year.
The department noted several field‑level points: - Beaver Creek, Granite Point, Hansen, McArthur River and Swanson River units continue to show natural decline. - Trading Bay and West McArthur recorded production increases after well work offset natural decline. - The Kenai Loop and Bridal Ground Shoal units were effectively offline during the period and are reflected as zero production on the chart.
Why Cook Inlet matters: Peltier and Deputy Commissioner John Crother reminded the committee that Cook Inlet crude supplies in‑state refineries that produce gasoline, aviation fuels and asphalt used in the Southcentral rail belt. Crother said that as Cook Inlet declines, feedstock needs must be met from other sources, which has implications for in‑state fuel supply planning.
Gas and reinjection The committee asked whether associated natural gas trends track oil declines and whether gas reinjected for enhanced oil recovery could later be produced for local use. Director Derek Nottingham answered that practices vary by field: some operators reinject produced gas to support oil recovery and some of that gas is produced back with oil or can be “blown down” and recovered later if economically viable. Nottingham said some historical gas‑for‑EOR projects in Cook Inlet (for example, Swanson River) have been shut in for years but that operators evaluate reservoir economics when deciding recovery options.
Future Cook Inlet projects Peltier noted one project under evaluation for Cook Inlet — the Cosmopolitan project — and said more detailed presentations on gas and potential projects could be scheduled for a future committee hearing.
Ending: the department offered to provide additional technical detail on gas‑injection history and project prospects at the committee’s request.
