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3rd new Prudhoe transit line in service
Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
The third of four BP Exploration (Alaska) Prudhoe Bay replacement transit lines went into service Dec. 12 and the fourth and final replacement line is scheduled to be in service by Christmas, BP spokesman Steve Rinehart told Petroleum News Dec. 17.
The transit line replacements are the result of corrosion found in transit lines at the field in 2006.
A spill in March 2006 of more than 200,000 gallons on the western side of Prudhoe Bay from a transit line coming from Gathering Center 2 was followed in early August of that year by a number of anomalies and a small leak found on the eastern side of the field as BP was testing lines in compliance with a U.S. Department of Transportation order stemming from the March spill.
BP decided in August 2006 to replace the transit lines.
The cost had been pegged at some $260 million, although Rinehart told Petroleum News earlier this year that costs had climbed since that estimate was done.
Cost about $500 million The cost is now put at about $500 million, Rinehart said.
The earlier estimates “did not take into account all the added facilities, additional modules and construction,” he said in an e-mail. Rinehart also said that “significant resources” were added to make sure the work was completed by the end of the year.
He said BP “will end up with a modern system designed to serve Prudhoe and surrounding fields for decades.”
The work “incorporates facilities to enable maintenance and ensure integrity, using best-available technology in leak detection, metering and corrosion control,” Rinehart said.
The replacement transit lines have been coming into service since March, beginning with three miles of 20-inch line on the west side of Prudhoe Bay between Gathering Center 2 and Gathering Center 1. In September, three miles of 12-inch line went into service on the east side of the field between Flow Station 2 and Flow Station 1.
The line which went into service Dec. 12 was five miles of 28-inch line between Gathering Center 1 on the west side and Skid 50.
The final replacement transit line is another five-mile section, this an 18-inch line, from Flow Station 1 on the east side to Skid 50.
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