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Harvest LNG project progressing; AOGCC metering approval required
Alan Bailey for Petroleum News
On Aug. 20 the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission issued a notice saying that Harvest Alaska LLC is requesting approval of LNG metering technology that the company wants to use when loading LNG onto trucks from an LNG plant that the company is building on the North Slope.
The LNG plant is designed to supply LNG to Fairbanks based Interior Gas Utility for the supply of natural gas to IGU's customers in the Fairbanks region. IGU is transferring its gas supplies from the Cook Inlet to the North Slope, given pending gas shortages in the Cook Inlet region. Hilcorp Alaska is supplying the North Slope gas for LNG production. Harvest Alaska, Hilcorp's pipeline affiliate, is building and will operate the LNG plant.
The LNG plant is being constructed on an existing gravel pad near Pump Station 1 of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline.
Harvest's request for approval of the metering technology says that the company anticipates beginning operation of the LNG plant in December of this year. This suggests that the construction project is running to schedule. IGU is contracting with a trucking company to ship the LNG by road to the utility's LNG storage facilities in Fairbanks and North Pole. Currently the utility transports LNG by road from its LNG plant near Point MacKenzie on the Cook Inlet.
Weight rather than volume Harvest has requested approval to meter the LNG delivered from the new LNG plant using the weight rather than the volume of the LNG. The company would require a tanker truck to drive onto a truck scale that would measure the weight of the truck before and after loading. One gallon of LNG would be assumed to weigh 3.55 pounds, under an agreement with IGU. However, this conversion factor may need to change over time, if the composition of the LNG is found to change.
This method of metering helps address the challenges of metering LNG by volume, given that the material is transported and stored at cryogenic temperatures and can have both liquid and vapor phases when transported, Hilcorp told AOGCC. Moreover, while the composition of LNG can vary significantly, volumetric measurements rely on accurate compositional analysis, the company wrote.
Harvest told AOGCC that it will verify the accuracy of the metering arrangements through third party maintenance and calibration every six months, and through annual certification and testing. Installation, calibration and certification of the equipment is expected in September.
--ALAN BAILEY
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