Aurora Gas LLC has applied to the state for permits to bury the temporary above-ground gathering line for the Nicolai Creek No. 11 well.
A fuel gas line and electrical conduit would be buried in the same trench, according to a state notice on an application for a gas line easement.
The company said the work would be done during the fall in support of continued sustained production at the well.
New production facilities were installed last November on the Nicolai Creek 11 pad and a temporary line was built to the Nicolai Creek 1B, 2 and 9 existing facilities some 1,400 feet to the east.
Aurora said burial of the existing above-ground line is expected to take three weeks, and will include disconnecting the pipeline from facilities, trenching and relocating it to the trenched area. The 4-inch pipe will be relocated and rewelded within a trench along the existing road and the trench will be backfilled.
Nicolai Creek is some 55 miles southwest of Anchorage, some 12 miles south of the village of Tyonek and 2 miles from the Shirleyville Camp, the closest permanent settlement.
The company said there is an existing network of gravel roads in the Shirleyville-Tyonek area which provide access from Shirleyville, Tyonek and the Beluga gas field to the north.
Several barge landings are available in the project area, including those at Tyonek and Beluga. Aurora said the primary barge landing for this project will be the Tyonek North Foreland barge landing because it is closer to the company’s operations.
Regular air support will be provided out of Anchorage, Kenai and Nikiski, with gravel strips at Tyonek and Shirleyville used to support the project.
Project personnel will stay at the Shirleyville Camp in Shirleyville and will travel to the work location by crew cab truck.
—Petroleum News
