Christopher E. Smith
OGJ Pipeline Editor
HOUSTON, May 17 -- The Denali project, a joint venture of BP PLC and ConocoPhillips, is stopping efforts to develop a pipeline that would transport Alaska North Slope (ANS) natural gas to the US Lower 48. The competing project, a partnership between TransCanada and ExxonMobil Corp. called the Alaska Pipeline Project (APP), is continuing its effort to design and permit a gas line from Alaska.
APP is working toward submitting its project application to the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in October 2012. The venture 2 weeks ago submitted the first of its draft resource reports to the commission, with all 11 reports expected by December. The project team will soon begin another field season in Alaska and Canada.
TransCanada said in February as part of its 2010 earnings report that it was working with shippers to resolve conditions received as part of its open season for the pipeline (OGJ Online, Feb. 16, 2011).
Two options were provided in the APP open season. The first option was a pipeline extending roughly 1,700 miles from ANS, through Alaska, the Yukon Territory and British Columbia, to Alberta, from where the gas would be delivered on existing pipeline systems serving North America.
The second option would transport gas about 800 miles from ANS to Valdez, Alas., where it would be converted to LNG in a facility to be built by others and then delivered by ship to North American and internationally.
Both options provided opportunities for Alaska communities to acquire gas from at least five delivery points on the pipeline. The Alberta option also provided the opportunity for local natural gas deliveries in Canada.
A world-class gas treatment plant (GTP) and Point Thomson gas transmission pipeline were components of both options. The GTP would be built next to ANS’s Prudhoe Bay facilities to treat the gas for shipment on the pipeline. A roughly 58-mile pipeline would connect the gas supplies of Point Thomson field to the plant and transmission pipeline.
The project team will soon begin another field season in Alaska and Canada, covering topics such as soil permafrost, seismology, fish counts, wetlands, archaeology, and cultural resources. An initial field season was completed in summer and fall 2010.
Contact Christopher E. Smith at [email protected].
Map from Canada Energy Regulator.
