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Nanushuk draft EIS in September with meetings this month and next
Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says the draft environmental impact statement for Armstrong Energy’s Nanushuk project is due out in early September, a delay from the August release the agency projected earlier this year.
Public meetings on the draft EIS are scheduled Sept. 25 in Nuiqsut, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Kisik Community Center; in Utqiagvik Sept. 27 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Inupiat Heritage Center; in Fairbanks Oct. 3 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Westmark Fairbanks Hotel; and in Anchorage Oct. 4 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn.
Based on 2015 exploration work, Armstrong anticipates 120,000 barrels of day of production from the Nanushuk and Alpine reservoirs, an increase from the 60,000 bpd estimated in the company’s June 2015 application.
The higher production rates required some changes from the original application, the Corps said, including relocation of Drill Site 3 some 1.5 miles south of the originally proposed site; an increase in the number of wells to as many as a total of 150 for the three proposed drill sites; changes in the pad layout and size to accommodate additional wells and a larger processing facility; a possible increase in power requirements; and a possible increase in pipeline diameters.
Alternatives announced last year As reported by Petroleum News in early December, the Corps announced alternatives for the project, including a no action alternative, in November. At that time release of the draft EIS was projected for mid-year.
The other four alternatives other than the no action alternative have features in common: seasonal ice pads and ice roads to support construction; construction of three new gravel pads for drill sites, a central processing facility and a tie-in pad at Kuparuk Central Processing Facility 2 to connect to existing North Slope pipeline facilities; new pipelines for transportation of sales-quality oil and infield pipelines to transport multiphase product - oil, gas and water - to Armstrong’s central processing facility; construction of new gravel roads, improvement of existing gravel roads, marine transportation to the Oliktok Point dock and air transport to Deadhorse with bus and truck transport from the airport to the project; the project would also include gravel sources, camps, power generation and transmission, communications, facility lighting, potable and non-potable water sources and distribution; and waste management and disposal.
Applicant’s proposal The project proposed by Armstrong includes an all-season gravel road between Kuparuk drill site 2M and the proposed Nanushuk facilities, using 0.1 miles of the existing Mustang Road before turning west and then northwest to the Nanushuk pad, which would include drill site 1 and the central processing facility. The road would be 13.5 miles and would connect to 11.9 miles of new gravel infield roads to drill sites 2 and 3. The infield road would cross the Kachemach River on a bridge. There would be new pipelines to transport crude between drill sites, the central processing facility and existing infrastructure, with the drill site 3 pipeline crossing the Kachemach River and the export/import line crossing the Miluveach River.Alternative 3 — southern access The southern access alternative would maximize use of existing infrastructure developed for Mustang, the Corp said, with the new gravel access road paralleling the Alpine Pipeline corridor and drill site layout similar to the applicant’s proposal. This alternative would require two crossings of the Kachemach River. The export/import pipeline would also cross the Kachemach River twice.
Alternative 4 — northern access The northern access alternative would maximize use of existing Nuna infrastructure, including the permitted but not yet constructed Nuna Road. With this alternative the central processing facility would be located farther from Nuiqsut and a 6.8-mile road would be constructed to connect the project to the Nuna road.
The export/import pipeline would parallel the proposed access road until it approaches the existing Nuna Road and would then go cross-country to the east and south to Kuparuk drill site 2V, and from there parallel existing roads to the tie-in pad at Kuparuk CPF2.
Alternative 5 — reconfigured infield roads Alternative 5 would reconfigure infield roads to reduce new infrastructure in the Colville River floodplain, the Corps said, as well as making infield roads less parallel to the East Channel of the Colville River to reduce potential impacts to migrating caribou.
The alternative is a response to cooperating agency comments about road and pad configurations having the potential to have a fencing effect on migrating caribou.
- KRISTEN NELSON
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