Cross-inlet line permits issued

Alan Bailey

Petroleum News

The Regulatory Commission of Alaska has issued temporary construction permits for new pipelines that Hilcorp Alaska plans to build, to enable the transportation of crude oil by pipeline from the west side of Cook Inlet to Nikiski on the Kenai Peninsula. In a Dec. 29 order the commission allowed Hilcorp subsidiary Cook Inlet Pipeline Co. to start work on a short northward extension of the existing pipeline that carries oil down the west side of the inlet. The idea is to connect the existing oil line to one of the twin Cook Inlet Gas Gathering System pipelines under the inlet. One of the CIGGS lines will then continue to carry gas, while the other line will carry oil.

Hilcorp also plans to maintain existing gas transportation capabilities across the inlet by building a new subsea gas line from the Tyonek offshore gas production platform to Ladd Landing on the west side of the inlet. The new line will in effect extend the existing Tyonek Pipeline that connects the platform to Nikiski. The RCA order approves a temporary permit for onshore work involving the replacement of a section of the existing Tyonek gas line on the Kenai Peninsula.

CIPL wants to carry out the onshore pipeline construction during the winter, when the ground is frozen, to minimize environmental impacts. The company anticipates laying the offshore gas line in the spring, after the sea ice has melted.

Hilcorp is conducting the pipeline project to eliminate the need for the Drift River oil terminal, and the associated oil tanker traffic, as the means of transporting oil to market from fields on the inlet’s west side. The use of the Drift River terminal has long been a safety and environmental concern because of the proximity of the terminal to the Redoubt volcano.

CIPL, currently an oil pipeline operator, has applied to RCA for a certificate to transport gas through the Tyonek pipeline. Similarly, Kenai Beluga Pipeline, the operator of the CIGGS system, has applied for a certificate for the carriage of oil.

- ALAN BAILEY