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BLM issues supplement to Willow draft EIS
Biggest change is elimination of construction of module transfer island in favor of using existing Oliktok Dock to land sealift Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
The federal Bureau of Land Management has released a supplement to the draft environmental impact statement for ConocoPhillips Alaska’s proposed Willow master development plan.
BLM said changes were made by the company in response to multiple stakeholder concerns and public comments on the draft EIS released last year.
The updated proposal has design adjustments for many project components, but primarily addresses a revision removing construction of a module transfer island which was analyzed as Alternative B of the draft EIS, BLM said.
ConocoPhillips is now proposing that modules be transported via sealift to Oliktok Point, which has an existing dock and from there by ice road across the Colville River. The company has also added construction of a freshwater reservoir and up to three boat ramps to support subsistence activities.
BLM said module delivery using Oliktok Dock and sea ice roads was previously evaluated but eliminated due to constraints related to module size and sea ice road limitations across the Colville River Delta.
An additional scenario would have used the existing Oliktok Dock and moved modules to the project area using existing gravel roads and some 165 miles of ice roads routed south through an area near Umiat, but was eliminated when BLM was unable to confirm the route would allow for a fully grounded ice road across the river.
Since alternatives developed for the draft EIS, BLM said, ConocoPhillips has collected additional data on flow and ice conditions at Ocean Point, and the company “is now confident that transporting sealift modules via an ice road across the Colville River near Ocean Point is feasible and have made this option part of their proposed Project.”
Comments close in May BLM said the new proposal was received in November, shortly after the comment period closed on the draft EIS.
The supplement to the DEIS presents the new information and allows for a 45-day public comment period, starting March 20 and closing May 4 at 11:59 p.m. Alaska time.
The master development plan for Willow describes a project with up to five drill sites, a central processing facility, an operations center pad, gravel roads, ice roads during construction and resupply ice roads during operations, one to two airstrips, pipelines and a gravel mine site.
The project would have peak production in excess of 160,000 barrels of oil per day, with a processing capacity of 200,000 barrels per day, over the project’s 30-31 year life, and would produce some 590 million total barrels of oil.
The Willow project is in the northeast area of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
The draft EIS analyzed a no action alternative and three action alternatives - B, C and D - along with two module delivery options, 1 and 2.
The supplement addresses three project components added after the DEIS was published: a third option for module delivery; a constructed freshwater reservoir; and up to three boat ramps for subsistence access.
Changes to be considered in final EIS BLM said some project updates and modifications are not included in the supplement to the DEIS but will be detailed in the final EIS.
Those include: possible shift of production from Greater Mooses Tooth 2, currently under production, from the Alpine processing facility to the Willow processing facility; two additional water sources; Willow operations center and airstrip relocation some 2.5 miles to northeast under alternative B (the company’s proposal); refinements to reduce overall size of the Tinmiaqsiugvik mine site; refinements to overall project footprint; updates to total traffic and freshwater use estimates; new project facilities added which would be placed on existing gravel pads in Alpine and Kuparuk; updates to ice road design; and updates to project schedule and construction sequencing, which do not, BLM said, change the anticipated life of the project or the project start date.
Module delivery option 3 There were two module delivery options considered in last year’s DEIS - both were transfer islands for the modules.
BLM said ConocoPhillips developed a new module delivery option in response to concerns and comments from stakeholders.
Under the new option 3, Colville River crossing, large sealift modules would be delivered at the existing Oliktok Dock and transported over the existing gravel road network in Kuparuk south to Kuparuk drill site 2P, and from there transported via ice road across the Colville River to the project area near the Greater Mooses Tooth 2 drill site and from there over project gravel roads or ice roads (depending on the alternative) to their installation location.
Sealift barges would deliver processing modules to Oliktok Dock under the new delivery option, with delivery occurring during the two summer seasons of 2024 and 2026 (for alternatives B and C) or 2025 and 2027 (alternative D).
Lightering barges would be used because the 8-foot water depth at Oliktok Dock is too shallow to accommodate fully laden sealift barges, requiring a portion of each sealift barge load to be transferred onto a lightering barge - which has shallower draft requirements - for transport to Oliktok Dock.
Screeding, redistribution or recontouring of sea floor to provide a level surface for the barges to be grounded during load transfers, would be required.
Lightering transfer would be some 2.3 miles north of Oliktok Dock in 10 feet of water; screeding would also be required in that area, as well as some 2.5 acres in front of Oliktok Dock to facilitate unloading of lightering barges.
Some improvements and modifications would be required at Oliktok Dock: the existing dock surface would be raised some 6 feet and two new 50-ton bollards would be installed.
Temporary storage After the sealift modules are delivered to Oliktok Dock they would be moved to and stored at an existing 12-acre gravel pad 2 miles south of the dock. Prior to that move, gravel would be added to the storage area, currently 3-4 feet thick, to bring it up to 5 feet and rig mats would be installed to provide further structural support for module storage. The modules would be skirted to prevent drifting snow from accumulating under them.
In January the modules would be transported on existing gravel roads to Kuparuk drill site 2P, where they would be staged on an ice pad until construction of module transport ice roads and the Colville River ice bridge are complete.
Ice road, river crossing A module transport ice road would be 60 feet wide and 40.1 miles long. It would be constructed from both ends - drill site 2P in Kuparuk and GMT-2 in NPR-A, with segments meeting at the Colville River crossing near Ocean Point.
An engineered ice bridge would provide enough load-carrying capacity to support both the sealift modules and the self-propelled module transporters.
The grounded ice crossing would be downstream from Ocean Point, sited to be upstream of saltwater intrusion and tidal backwatering from the Colville River Delta in an area not expected to be used by fish in winter.
The river ice crossing would be approximately 2,800 feet from the top of the east bank to the top of the west bank, some 700 feet from the edge of water to edge of water, and 65 feet wide at the surface.
BLM said the Colville River ice bridge is planned for an area currently used by the North Slope Borough to build a portion of the community winter access trail connecting North Slope communities with the Alaska highway system.
The agency said ConocoPhillips would work with the NSB and local residents to ensure access is provided, with coordination in a manner similar to current practices for the annual Alpine resupply ice road.
A 100-person camp would be required near the drill site 2P access road to support module moves, with ice road construction crews for the eastern segment based out of the same camp near DS2P and ice road crews building the western segment based out of one of the construction camps used to support other project construction activity.
From GMT-2 to the Willow processing facility the modules would move on the proposed project access road.
BLM said ConocoPhillips has identified some curves on existing Kuparuk gravel roads that would need to be widened to accommodate the turning radius of the 200-foot-long self-propelled module transporters, requiring additional gravel and extension of culverts as needed.
Timing ConocoPhillips said in July that it expected a final investment decision on the project in 2021 and first oil in 2025-26.
Alternative B is ConocoPhillips’ proposal.
Alternatives C and D were developed for the draft EIS.
Alternative C would have the same gravel road between GMT-2 and Willow but would not have a gravel road connection from Willow to Bear Tooth drill site 1, although a gravel road would connect the BT1 drill site to the BT4 drill site, with an ice road constructed annually from the Willow processing facility to BT1.
Alternative D would not have gravel road access from GMT2, but would have the same gravel infield roads as Alternative B.
Gravel haul and modifying existing roads would occur during summer 2023 under Alternatives B and C, BLM said, and summer 2024 under Alternative D.
Modules for the Willow processing facility and drill sites BT1 through BT3 would be delivered by sealift barge in the summer of 2024 for Alternatives B and C, and in 2025 for Alternative D.
A second sealift would deliver modules for drill sites BT4 and BT5 in summer 2026 for Alternatives B and C, and in summer 2027 for Alternative D.
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