Colville barges diesel to Slope

Alan Bailey

Petroleum News

Transportation company Colville has transported 2 million gallons of diesel fuel by barge to Prudhoe Bay on the North Slope, the company has announced. This was the first bulk delivery of fuel to the Slope by barge since the 1990s, and possibly the largest shipment of its type ever, the company said. The supply barge, owned and operated by Crowley Marine, arrived at Deadhorse on Sept. 6. Because of the shallow water depths, the barge had to be moored 3 miles offshore, with the fuel being carried to shore in smaller vessels. Onshore, the fuel was pumped into tanker trucks for transfer to Colville’s tank farm in Deadhorse.

The U.S. Coast Guard and BP oversaw the operation, said Dave Pfeifer, Colville president and chief executive officer.

More typically, fuel for use on the North Slope is delivered to Deadhorse from a refinery in Valdez, using tanker trucks that ply the Haul Road to the Slope. Colville’s trucks make around 2,000 of these trips each year, carrying about 10,000 gallons of fuel on each trip. The delivery of fuel by barge, in effect, replaces 200 tanker trips, Colville said.

Colville attributes its ability to conduct the barge operation to improving sea ice conditions off northern Alaska and the construction of Colville’s 5 million-gallon fuel storage facility at Deadhorse. Without the tank farm, there would be insufficient fuel storage capacity at Deadhorse to support the receipt of such a large fuel shipment, the company said.

“This was a milestone for Colville and the fuel transport industry and was prompted by increased demand because of all the new activity in the North Slope oil fields. While we will consider future barge deliveries, they will not replace our trucking operation,” Pfeifer said.

- ALAN BAILEY