Parties want more time for KPL deal

The Kuparuk Transportation Co., the State of Alaska and Anadarko Petroleum say they need one more month to finalize a settlement on shipping rates for the Kuparuk Pipeline.

The parties told the Regulatory Commission of Alaska in December that they had reached a “nonbinding agreement in principle” on the major issues at play in the case, and expected to have a formal settlement finalized and ready for approval by Jan. 31.

The three parties have now told the RCA they need more time to get final management approval of a draft settlement before they can submit it for regulatory approval. They said that they expect to file the final settlement agreement by the end of February.

The case revolves around setting a new shipping rate on the Kuparuk Pipeline, a 28-mile pipeline that brings western crude oil supplies across the North Slope to Pump Station 1.

The State and Anadarko believe the shipping rate should be tied directly to operating costs (and presumably lowered), while Kuparuk Transportation believes it needs higher rates because throughout on the pipeline is declining just as the company is paying for upgrades needed to accommodate smart pigging technology to monitor pipeline integrity.

Kuparuk Transportation Co. is a partnership between subsidiaries of ConocoPhillips, BP and Chevron. The Kuparuk Pipeline moved more than 102 million barrels of oil in 2009.

—Eric Lidji