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JPO solicits bids for Parks gas line study State pipeline coordinator Mike Thompson says $1-1.6 million RFP ‘in no way represents an endorsement by DNR of any route’ Kay Cashman Petroleum News
The Alaska Joint Pipeline Office is soliciting proposals for a contractor to perform a feasibility study of a 322-mile natural gas pipeline from Fairbanks to Wasilla, generally along the Parks Highway right of way, and terminating at the existing Enstar gas transmission pipeline.
In the RFP’s background information, Alaska Joint Pipeline Office, which is part of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, said the purpose of the spur line would be to deliver North Slope gas to the Cook Inlet region of Southcentral Alaska, where gas supplies are a concern to local residents and politicians. A Parks Highway line would take North Slope gas from a larger diameter pipeline at Fairbanks, as well as potentially connect with as-yet-undiscovered gas in the Nenana basin.
The contractor’s budget for the feasibility study, $1 million to $1.6 million, comes from “Congressional financing for investigations along the Parks Highway corridor,” state pipeline coordinator Mike Thompson told Petroleum News in December.
The RFP “in no way represents an endorsement by DNR of any route,” Thompson said. “…The Alaskan Congressional delegation outlined the scope of the project. DNR developed the RFP to be consistent with these directives.”
Delta Junction spur line The other spur line route, favored by the voter-mandated Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority and commonly referred to as the Delta Junction or Glenn Highway spur line, would connect with a larger diameter pipeline from the North Slope at Delta Junction, and generally follow the Richardson Highway through the Alaska Range to the Glennallen area. From that point it would follow the Glenn Highway through the Matanuska Valley and terminate at the same Enstar transmission line, but approximately 30 miles to the east near Palmer. This line would be positioned to pick up additional gas from yet-to-be-discovered sources in the Copper River basin.
After a multi-year effort, ANGDA determined that the Glenn Highway route, about 41 miles shorter than the Parks route, appeared to offer the lowest cost of deliverability to Cook Inlet residents. ANGDA also said, in a briefing to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in December 2006, that a gas pipeline segment that delivered gas to “even a small LNG project” at Valdez “significantly lowers the gas delivery cost to Cook Inlet.”
When asked why there is no comparison to the Glenn Highway spur line included in the RFP, Thompson said a DOE report, issued Oct. 24, provided this analysis,” referring to a document titled “Conceptual Engineering / Socioeconomic
Impact Study-Alaska Spur Pipeline,” in which DOE essentially both routes appear to be feasible. (The study can be found at www.jpo.doi.gov.)
“In addition, the Alaskan Congressional delegation states the intent of the funding ‘is to continue the Parks Highway Spur study begun under the DOE project,’” Thompson said.
Proposals due by Jan. 25 Proposals for the Parks Highway pipeline feasibility study are due Jan. 25. A proposal evaluation committee is scheduled to complete its evaluation by Jan. 29; the state will issue a notice of intent to award the contract by Jan. 30, expecting to make the actual award by Feb. 12.
The contractor has to have the study completed by Dec. 15.
The RFP said the purpose of the study is to define “the Parks Highway gas pipeline alternative … by reviewing existing information and collecting data, performing field reconnaissance and holding public meetings. The final product will consist of a report(s) containing information necessary for interested entities to complete an AS 38.35 pipeline right-of-way application and other land-use applications. The report(s) must include: engineering necessary for preliminary pipeline design to provide for a fixed system concept; land title along the pipeline corridor; environmental, waterway and wildlife information along the corridor; cost and construction estimates; and public outreach concerns. Parameters and criteria established shall ensure the pipeline will perform its desired functions reliably and economically.”
In addition, the RPF said, “a separate right-of-way report documenting the scope of work and associated cost required to obtain necessary rights-of-way, easements, permits, waivers, etc. for any gas pipeline project along a State of Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities and Alaska Railroad Corporation transportation corridor. This report will not be specific to crossings along the Parks Highway route; rather it will examine what efforts are necessary for any gas project to utilize and/or cross existing transportation corridors in Alaska.”
Crosses both Denali parks The route, which crosses Denali National Park and Preserve and Denali State Park, passes through both lowland river valleys and steep mountainous terrain, beginning at an elevation of about 450 feet in Fairbanks and rising to elevations greater than 2,400 feet in the Cantwell area before gradually dropping back to approximately 150 feet in the Wasilla area.
Beginning in Fairbanks, the route proceeds south through the Tanana Flats and Nenana River basin before traversing the Alaska Range between the communities of Healy and Cantwell. Just south of Cantwell, it enters the Susitna River valley, remaining in the valley between Trapper Creek, Willow and Wasilla.
For more information on the RFP, contact Marlys Hagen, C.P.M., at [email protected] or 907 269-8666.
A copy of the RFP can be found at http://notes5.state.ak.us/pn/pubnotic.nsf/0/c176082aa075e0c5892573ad00743702/$FILE/jpo+parks+hwy+RFP+final+12-10-07.pdf.
The DOE study released in October was done by Arctic Slope Regional Corporation Constructors Inc. (ACI); Norstar Pipeline Company, an affiliate of Enstar; and the engineering firm Michael Baker Jr., Inc, with ACI managing the overall study.
Editor’s note: Part two of this story will appear no later than mid-February in Petroleum News.
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