State sets March 1 date for North Slope, Beaufort Sea lease sales
The state will hold its North Slope and Beaufort Sea areawide lease sales March 1, with bid opening beginning at 8:30 a.m. in the Wilda Marston Theater in the Loussac Public Library in Anchorage. These are the sales originally scheduled for October 2005.
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil and Gas said southern North Slope tracts will have a fixed royalty of 12.5 percent; northern North Slope tracts will have a 16.67 percent royalty.
The primary term of leases in the North Slope sale has been reduced to five years for northern tracts and seven years for southern tracts.
For the Beaufort Sea sale the farthest east tracts will remain at a 12.5 percent royalty and a 10-year primary term.
All other tracts in the sale will have a royalty of 16.67 percent, and tracts closest to infrastructure will have a five-year primary term; other tracts will have a seven-year primary term.
The minimum bid is $10 per acre for all tracts.
Information will be posted on the division’s Web site: www.dog.dnr.state.ak.us/oil/index.htm.
North Slope Borough approves Pioneer’s rezoning application
The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation said Jan. 2 that Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. reported a brine spill Jan. 1 at pump station 1.
DEC said Alyeska has estimated up to 2,450 gallons of refrigerant brine solution may have spilled. Brine solution is predominantly water with calcium chloride to prevent freezing and hexavalent chromium as a corrosion inhibitor.
The spill was from a leak in a two-inch underground brine refrigeration loop beneath the warehouse and shop area at Pump Station 1, Prudhoe Bay. DEC said the release is most likely caused by corrosion. The leaking loop was isolated and a team is removing insulation and exposing pipe to identify the exact location.
The refrigeration line keeps the gravel pad frozen under the warehouse and shop area to maintain structural integrity.
The line has been isolated and blind flanges installed. If the location of the leak is not discovered, the line will be pigged to remove remaining brine in the line. A fiber-optic camera will be brought in to examine the inside of the pipe. Hydrophonic testing has been proposed, but may be difficult to use since the building has a concrete floor.
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