BP plans to remove old Cook Inlet pipelines

Wesley Loy

For Petroleum News

BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. this summer plans to remove abandoned pipeline segments from a beach on the Kenai Peninsula northeast of Nikiski.

The pipelines once belonged to Amoco, a company BP took over in 1998.

Each line is 10¾ inches in diameter, with one meant to carry oil and the other natural gas.

Installed in 1966, the lines run from the Anna offshore platform to what is now the XTO Energy delivery facility, located onshore some 19 miles to the south. The lines have been abandoned since 1987.

BP is not proposing to remove the full length of the pipelines. Rather, it intends to cut out sections running along a 3,000-foot stretch of shoreline between where the subsea pipelines make landfall and the XTO facility to the west.

The reason for the removal is seasonal beach erosion, which is partially exposing the below-grade pipelines, says a BP permit application now pending with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources.

The exposed pipes are susceptible to damage from ice scouring or human interaction, and “represent a potential physical nuisance to users of the beach,” BP’s application says.

The two lines, which have an enamel fiberglass wrap and an outer concrete jacket, appeared to be in good shape during site reconnaissance in 2011, BP says.

Aside from ridding the beach of a potential hazard, removal of the pipelines will clear the way for some work XTO plans to do on its two 8-inch lines running perpendicular off the beach, above the abandoned BP lines, to platforms A and C offshore.

In all, about 6,000 linear feet of steel pipe will be excavated and removed, amounting to a total weight of 435 tons, BP says. The company plans to cut the pipe into 20-foot lengths and dispose of them in either the local landfill if clean, or in a permitted landfill in the Lower 48 should the piping be deemed toxic.

BP plans to do the work from May to September, with a break in the middle to avoid disturbing commercial salmon fishermen with nearby setnet sites. Using heavy equipment, BP plans to work during low tides to unearth and remove the piping. The job will involve 12 to 15 workers on site.

A vac truck and oil spill response contractors will be available to deal with any residual oil, the BP application says.