RCA wants more info on pipeline transfer

Gardes purchase of North Fork field includes Anchor Point Energy, holder of certificate of convenience and necessity for pipeline

Kristen Nelson

Petroleum News

Gardes Holdings purchased the small southern Kenai Peninsula North Fork gas field from Glacier Oil and Gas late last year.

The field had been operated by Glacier subsidiary Cook Inlet Energy.

The Alaska Division of Oil and Gas approved transfer of operatorship of the North Fork unit to Gardes Holding, and subsequently to Gardes subsidiary Vision Operating, in May.

But approval from the Regulatory Commission of Alaska is still in the works.

The natural gas produced at the field is moved through the 7.4-mile North Fork Pipeline to a connection with Enstar’s southern Kenai Peninsula line at Anchor Point.

Anchor Point Energy holds the certificate of public convenience and necessity for the North Fork Pipeline.

Cook Inlet Energy holds controlling interest in Anchor Point Energy, the owner of the North Fork Pipeline, and Cook Inlet Energy and Gardes Holdings have filed jointly for approval from RCA to transfer CIE’s controlling interest in Anchor Point Energy to Gardes Holdings.

More information

RCA said its regulations require copies of all pipeline right-of-way agreements or, if ROW agreements are not finalized, copies of the most recent ROW applications.

The commission said that Gardes and CIE did not file a copy of the ROW agreement with their joint application but told the commission that the ROW agreements applicable to the North Fork Pipeline are the same as those presently on file and said the ROW agreements would not change as a result of the authorizations the companies seek.

The commission said that in reviewing previous applications it found the last application related to the pipeline was filed in 2014 for ROW agreement ADL 230928. Parties to that agreement included the state of Alaska and Anchor Point Energy, RCA said.

But, the commission said, the parties in the present joint filing said the ROW was held in the name of Cook Inlet Energy, and RCA said it does not have a copy of a ROW agreement in the name of CIE in its files.

“The Joint Applicants further state that they would work to have the right-of-way agreement transferred to Anchor Point Energy, while maintaining that the applicable right-of-way agreement would not change. We find these statements inconsistent,” RCA said.

The commission is requiring the joint applicants to clarify their statements about the ROW agreement and is requiring that the applicants file a copy of the current ROW applicable to the North Fork Pipeline and any ROW transfer applications currently being considered by the Department of Natural Resources.

RCA also requires the applicants to “report on the status of any transfer application being considered by DNR including whether DNR is requiring any form of financial assurance as a condition of transfer.”

The filings are due by Sept. 8.