Point Thomson pipeline construction done

ExxonMobil has completed construction of a 22-mile pipeline for the planned Point Thomson oil field on Alaska’s North Slope.

Leak testing is expected to take place in August, said Graham Smith, spokesman for the State Pipeline Coordinator’s Office.

State officials took weekly trips to the Slope to check on the project, said Smith, who went himself around the end of March.

“Man, there was so much activity when we were there,” he said.

Hundreds of workers have been involved in laying the pipeline, and in constructing the field.

Point Thomson is about 60 miles east of Prudhoe Bay, next to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

ExxonMobil is aiming to begin production of condensate, a form of light oil, in 2016 at a rate of 10,000 barrels per day. Process modules for the field are being fabricated in South Korea.

The insulated, above-ground pipeline is on a state right of way. It’ll carry Point Thomson oil west along the Beaufort Sea coastline, tying in with the Badami pipeline. Ultimately, the condensate will flow down the trans-Alaska pipeline.

ExxonMobil put the cost of the Point Thomson pipeline at more than $250 million. Doyon Associated LLC was the major construction contractor.

Other Point Thomson owners include BP and ConocoPhillips.

- Wesley Loy