Alpine satellite final EIS delayed

Kristen Nelson

Petroleum News editor-in-chief

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management says the final environmental impact statement for the Alpine satellites, expected in early July, has been delayed to the end of August. BLM Alaska spokeswoman Jody Weil said the agency needs additional hydrology information before work can be completed.

“Our latest schedule anticipates a final EIS out at the end of August,” Weil said July 7.

The proposal includes development of five satellites which would feed production into the production facility at Alpine, the most westerly of North Slope operating fields.

ConocoPhillips has said in regulatory filings that Alpine satellite work could begin next winter at Fiord and Nanuq, north and south of existing Alpine facilities and within the Colville River unit, with production possible from those satellites as early as 2006. Work would follow on satellites within the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, where a bridge and longer pipeline extensions are required.

ConocoPhillips has also said it will not sanction the project until it has regulatory approvals in hand.

When the draft EIS was released at the beginning of the year, ConocoPhillips Alaska spokeswoman Dawn Patience told Petroleum News that while ConocoPhillips is “excited about the potential of these satellites, a final decision (to go ahead) will be based on the EIS and permit outcome — and we also have work to do to improve the economics of these opportunities.”

In response to the delay in the final EIS, Patience told Petroleum News July 7: “We are concerned about the delay; however, it is premature to say this will have a direct impact on the project timeline without understanding what stipulations are included in the final EIS.

“A final decision to move forward on these projects won’t be sanctioned until after the EIS is completed and permits are issued,” Patience said.