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PETROLEUM DIRECTORY: CONAM Construction tackles diversity of projects,
despite shrinking oil production Anchorage based company cites partnerships with Alaska Native corporation on the North Slope as one of its greatest accomplishments in serving rural Alaska construction needs Amy Armstrong Special to PNA
Despite declining oil production, CONAM Construction Co. continues to serve Alaska’s oil and gas industry as a general contractor, tackling a wide range of projects, from pipeline construction to building oil and gas processing facilities.
“We seek revenue from other sources in Alaska to continue servicing the oil and gas industry — our prime focus — with the same level of expertise and excellence,” said Bob Stinson, president of the Anchorage-based company.
Stinson looks forward to getting back to work with the oil and gas industry this spring.
CONAM recently won the contract with Forest Oil for installation of the offshore and onshore pipelines from the Osprey Platform in Cook Inlet. The work includes installation of two 8-inch and one 6-inch pipelines to the platform that sits approximately 2 miles offshore and installation of approximately 14 miles of 8-inch and 6-inch pipelines onshore. The onshore pipelines run to the Production Facility located on the West Forelands and toward the Trading Bay Production Facilities.
It is the first offshore drilling and production platform that has been installed in Cook Inlet in years. “This is very challenging and will require planning, planning, planning,” Stinson said.
While he cannot release the project’s cost, Stinson said work is scheduled to begin in April, with completion expected in July. An impressive resume The Forest Oil project is the latest feather in CONAM’s cap of tough projects.
In November 2000, the company completed the Crosstown Pipeline, a controversial jet fuel pipeline connecting the Port of Anchorage with the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.
“It was a turnkey operation for us,” Stinson said. “It really is our signature project. We showed that we could handle all phases of a project. That is very beneficial to the customer because then they are dealing with only one entity instead of several.”
Permitting for the jet fuel pipeline took 18 months. Once permits were secured, CONAM was allowed only one access point to the Knik Arm mud flats, where the pipeline was laid four feet below the surface.
As the access point became increasingly muddy, CONAM officials used a helicopter to string and lay the concrete-coated pipes in order to meet the project timeline and beat encroaching ice sheets.
“Still, it was a huge success for us,” Stinson said. “We completed the project on time despite all the challenges.” From humble beginnings That project illustrates how far CONAM has come since its 1984 beginning as an open-shop contractor, Stinson said. In 1985, the contractor completed several North Slope endeavors, including pipelines as well as civil and electrical projects.
By 1986, when oil prices crashed, CONAM was forced to look elsewhere in Alaska for work, but still managed to hang onto one important job on the North Slope.
CONAM engineers took on the stabilization of the Endicott causeway linking the Endicott oil production island with the North Slope mainland. They used a revolutionary system of concrete pillow grout mats under the surface of the Beaufort Sea — on the edge of a breach where current and tidal wave action were eroding the causeway.
In the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, CONAM completed several oil industry projects. The company relocated ARCO’s flare stack at the Central Gas Facility in Prudhoe Bay and completed a $29 million pipeline rehabilitation for ARCO and the Produced Water Handling Expansion for BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc.
CONAM also handled the response to several spills and ruptures, including an overturn of an 8,000-gallon diesel fuel tanker truck in Atigun Pass in the winter of 1992 and the soil cleanup the following spring. CONAM also replaced a river-crossing pipeline in 1993, when Enstar Natural Gas Co.’s main gas supply line to Anchorage ruptured in a Susitna River crossing channel. Native alliances But CONAM’s greatest success is illustrated in the relationships it has developed with Alaska Native corporations, Stinson said.
CONAM and Tikigaq Corp., the village corporation of Point Hope in the North Slope Borough, became partners in 1994 through joint ventures. Since then, the partners have completed several civil improvement projects, including the Barrow gasline, public school additions and public housing renovations.
“Our primary focus is to develop relationships that make good business sense,” Stinson said. Bridging the cultural gap between rural and urban Alaska is an additional benefit.
CONAM is committed to local hires on rural projects. The $65 million Point Hope water and sewer system project was completed with locals supplying 67 percent of the work, according to Stinson.
“It just makes sense to have local people trained and qualified to do rural projects,” he said. “It is not always easy to do, but it is working.”
Stinson supports the training efforts of the Alaska Process Industry Careers Consortium. By teaming up with educators in Alaska, the consortium offers industry internships and scholarships for students pursuing careers with the oil and gas industry.
“They are trying to figure out how to get more interest in the oil and gas industry,” Stinson said. Challenges ahead Despite current layoffs, he said, gaps remain between the number of available jobs and the number of eligible applicants.
“This is going to be a huge issue when the natural gas pipeline comes,” Stinson said. “We will have a major shortage of qualified workers.”
Stinson, current president of the Alaska Support Industry Alliance, plans to focus on what contractors can do to alleviate the shortage of qualified workers.
“We really need more people to come into this business,” Stinson said. “Not only do we need craft folks, but we also need professional support personnel. We as a construction industry have really felt the shortage in both areas for the past four or five years.”
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