Point Thomson pegged at $1.3 billion; offshore compressors not needed for over-the-top route

Petroleum News Alaska Staff

Point Thomson gas is essential for an Alaska North Slope natural gas pipeline, members of the Alaska Gas Producers Pipeline Team told the Alaska Highway Natural Gas Policy Council Sept. 25.

Robbie Schilhab, the ExxonMobil team manager, told the council that the project "will need Point Thomson gas as well as Prudhoe Bay to keep pipeline full — also don't want to take gas out of Prudhoe Bay all at once."

That is true for either route, southern down the pipeline corridor or the northern across the Beaufort Sea.

The Point Thomson development, pegged at about $1.3 billion, is needed to get the economies of scale, whichever route is selected, Marushack told the Alaska Support Industry Alliance in another presentation Sept. 27.

In the base case, the 4-4.5 bcf, "you need about 3 from Prudhoe and you need about 1.5 from Point Thomson," he said.

The over-the-top or northern route for the base case Alaska North Slope gasline, 4 to 4.5 billion cubic feet, would not require offshore compressor stations.

Council member Peg Tileston asked Marushack at the council meeting how many compressor stations would be required in the Beaufort Sea for the northern route.

"None," he said. On the over-the-top route "we put compression at Prudhoe, at Point Thomson and where the line comes ashore in Canada."

That works at the 4-4.5 bcf base case the problem, Marushack said, is with expansion: you can't do 6 bcf with only those compressor stations.