Alyeska plans pipeline bullet-hole drill 01/17/2010
Exercise will involve field testing hydraulic clamp designed to quickly seal high-pressure oil leak; 2001 shooting caused big spill
Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. is planning a field exercise this year to test a hydraulically powered clamp designed to stop oil squirting out of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline through a bullet hole. The...

Crowley issues Pathfinder spill estimate 01/10/2010
Valdez-based tugboat hit infamous Bligh Reef two days before Christmas; plans made to tow craft to shipyard for repairs
Crowley Maritime Corp. was continuing work to patch up its damaged tugboat Pathfinder for towing from Valdez to a still undetermined shipyard for permanent repairs. Meantime, the company released an e...

Tugboat hits Bligh Reef 01/03/2010
Coast Guard probes collision with infamous rock; Alaska oil tankers delayed
A tugboat used to help manage oil tankers at Valdez ran aground two days before Christmas, spilling diesel fuel into Prince William Sound and mildly disrupting Alaska crude shipments. The mishap has g...

Alyeska shifts jobs away from Chugach 12/06/2009
In a series of major cost-cutting decisions, Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. is finalizing new agreements with contractors that could shift hundreds of trans-Alaska pipeline jobs away from unions. The c...

ANS November production up from October 12/06/2009
Alaska North Slope crude oil production for November averaged 699,675 barrels per day, up 2 percent from an October average of 686,126 bpd. ANS crude oil production peaked in 1988 at some 2 million bp...

Oil Patch Insider: Miscommunication delays Chukchi drilling decision; Fire Island wind farm still a go 11/29/2009
Nov. 20 came and went without an eagerly awaited decision by the U.S. Minerals Management Service on Shell's 2010 exploration plan for the Chukchi Sea - a decision that MMS now says will be forthcomin...

ANS production back up from September 11/15/2009
Alaska North Slope production averaged 686,126 barrels per day in October, an increase of 1.4 percent from a September average of 676,664 bpd, according to data from the Alaska Department of Revenue's...

Trimming back 11/15/2009
60 jobs at Alyeska to go in 2010 as pipeline oil flow continues to decline; pump station 1 electrification to be delayed by one year
As production from aging oil fields such as Prudhoe Bay and Kuparuk on Alaska's North Slope continues to decline, the corresponding year-on-year decline in oil flow through the trans-Alaska oil pipeli...

Oil Patch Bits: Crowley's Nalen named general manager in Valdez 10/25/2009
Crowley Maritime Corp. said Oct. 7 that it has named Charlie Nalen general manager of the company's Valdez operations. In his new position Nalen will be responsible for the entirety of Crowley's marin...

September North Slope production up 18% 10/11/2009
BP completes planned turnarounds for year with work at Northstar, where production returned to average rates in early October
September Alaska North Slope production averaged 676,664 barrels per day, up 18 percent from an August average of 572,967 bpd. The BP Exploration (Alaska)-operated Northstar field averaged 9,474 bpd...

Oil Patch Insider: Canada takes delivery of two Arctic submarines 10/04/2009
The Canadian government has taken delivery of two remote-controlled submarines that will be used in mapping the Arctic seabed. The program's purpose is to document Canada's territorial claims in the A...

Arctic Directory: Hawk Awarded Contract at Alyeska Pipeline 09/20/2009
Hawk Consultants LLC said March 24 that it had been awarded a multiyear contract by Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. to provide professional personnel services, supporting operations and maintenance of th...

AK-WA Connection 2009: Top law firm opens Anchorage office 08/23/2009
Stoel Rives is enhancing its services in Alaska by bringing some of its best natural resources, environmental lawyers to the state
Stoel Rives LLP, one of the nation's leading business law firms providing corporate and litigation services, recently opened an office in Anchorage. The Seattle-based firm has nearly 400 attorneys wi...

Maintenance continues production impact 08/09/2009
July North Slope production averages 568,788 bpd, down 3.9 percent from June's 591,666 bpd; Cook Inlet barrels up marginally
Summer maintenance work on the North Slope continued to impact production rates in July, with production averaging 568,788 barrels per day, down 3.87 percent from a June average production level of 59...

Observing Prince William Sound conditions 07/26/2009
Two-week 'Sound Predictions 2009' exercise tests weather and sea condition data gathering and forecasting for ocean observation
Encircled by jagged mountain ranges, bordered by glacier-carved fiords and battered by storms sweeping in from the Gulf of Alaska, Prince William Sound would seem to offer some unique challenges to th...

Valdez watchdog group seeks new chief 07/19/2009
A Valdez-based oil industry watchdog group is advertising for a new leader. The Prince William Sound Regional Citizens' Advisory Council lost its executive director when John Devens resigned in May. D...

TAPS transitioning to low flow future 07/19/2009
Strategic reconfiguration of the trans-Alaska pipeline moves ahead, while engineers assess the challenges of declining flow rates
At the end of May, the switchover to new electric pumps at pump station 4 of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline marked the latest major step in the upgrade of the pipeline system to accommodate declining r...

BP in Alaska: Building the Trans Alaska Pipeline System 07/12/2009
In order to begin construction on the pipeline, Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. needed to put in a road to service its construction. The road would start at the Yukon River, at the end of the 53-mile Ell...

BP in Alaska: Moving the oil – pipeline challenges 07/12/2009
Designing a pipeline that would transport Prudhoe Bay oil from Alaska's northern coast to its ice-free port of Valdez on Alaska's southern coast was an unprecedented engineering challenge. Three basic...

USCG holds oil spill awareness seminar 07/12/2009
The U.S. Coast Guard will hold the first of what are planned as annual seminars on Alaska oil spill awareness Sept. 29 at the Valdez Civic Center, the Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Valdez said June 3...

Alyeska completes first summer shutdown 06/28/2009
Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. said June 22 that it safely restarted the trans-Alaska oil pipeline after the first scheduled maintenance shutdown of the summer. The line was restarted at about 4 p.m. J...

High court strikes down Valdez tanker tax 06/21/2009
Tax imposed on tankers in 2000 found unconstitutional by U.S. Supreme Court; Alaska Supreme Court had ruled in favor of tax
The U.S. Supreme Court on June 15 struck down as unconstitutional a tax that the city of Valdez imposed on oil tankers loading crude oil from the southern terminus of the 800-mile trans-Alaska pipelin...

High Valdez inventory forces slope cuts 06/07/2009
Lack of tanker capacity could be one reason for 20% proration ordered by Alyeska Pipeline in mid-May, dropping production 16%
North Slope oil production unexpectedly tumbled for a couple of days in mid-May after Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. directed producers to prorate their production by 20 percent. Spokespersons for Alyes...

Oil Patch Insider 05/17/2009
Alberta cleans up royalty house; Alyeska wins operator award; JPO moving; Foothills road studies this summer
Whatever Alberta's oil and gas producers think of the province's new royalty scheme - and the displeasure is close to universal - Alberta Auditor-General Fred Dunn isn't about to give them a break. Fo...

Cook Inlet oil production down 50%-plus 05/10/2009
Inlet oil production coming only from east side; North Slope down 9.7% March to April due to maintenance, proration, temperatures
Alaska North Slope crude oil production dropped 9.7 percent from March to April, a difference of almost 72,000 barrels per day, driven by a 14.8 percent drop in Prudhoe Bay production, 320,120 bpd on...