Celeron Corp. has completed work on its All American Pipeline (AAPL) that enables the system to carry offshore California crude to inland California or West Texas.
Meantime, Unocal Corp. confirmed it intends to use crude from giant Point Arguello field off California solely as feedstock for its Santa Maria refinery at Arroyo Grande, Calif.
The method of transporting Point Arguello crude to market has been the focus of controversy that has blocked production start-up of the $2.5 billion project for 3 years.
Point Arguello partners led by Chevron Corp. recently announced plans to start up the project by mid-1991, using AAPL to move 20,000 b/d of Point Arguello crude while continuing to pursue permits for tankering as much as 100,000 b/d of Point Arguello to Los Angeles (OGJ, Dec. 3, p. 25).
AAPL ACTION
Celeron completed construction of a booster station and two mainline pump stations in Santa Barbara County, Calif.
That enables it to move offshore California crude via interconnects with other systems to refineries in California, Arizona, Texas, and elsewhere in the Midcontinent.
Celeron won't use the 114 mile section of line that runs north from just west of the city of Santa Barbara to near the San Luis Obispo County line and then east to Pentland, Calif., until Point Arguello starts up.
AAPL has moved crude from Central California to Texas for more than 3 years. Current throughput is about 120,000 b/d of onshore California crude, mainly from the San Joaquin Valley, and Alaska North Slope (ANS) crude landed by tankers in the Los Angeles/Long Beach harbor area and moved north to AAPL via ARCO's Four Corners Pipe Line Co. Line 90.
The recently completed booster station adjoins the Gaviota marine terminal about 20 miles east of Point Conception. The pump stations are near the onshore Point Arguello oil and gas processing plant at Gaviota and at Sisquoc, about 35 miles north in Santa Barbara County.
The booster and pump stations will enable AAPL to move the heavy crude over coastal mountains into the San Joaquin Valley.
The 1,125 mile system is designed to move 300,000 b/d. Point Arguello is designed to produce as much as 100,000 b/d.
AAPL and Four Corners have proposed building a spur linking their systems to move Point Arguello crude, blended with a diluent, south to Los Angeles. Santa Barbara County and local environmental groups favor an onshore pipeline transport option for Point Arguello crude to avoid increased tanker traffic in the Santa Barbara Channel.
Chevron and partners, together with San Joaquin Valley producers and Kern County officials, oppose that option, citing economic and environmental reasons.
Exxon Corp. is committed-providing a reasonable tariff is available-to move via AAPL additional offshore California crude production expected to go on stream in the early 1990s.
Exxon's further development of Santa Ynez Unit (SYU) is expected to boost SYU production to 90,000 b/d in 1994-95.
Celeron last fall completed an 11 mile spur from AAPL to Exxon's Las Flores oil and gas processing plant, currently under construction 15 miles east of Gaviota.
UNOCAL'S PLANS
Unocal's comment about plans to run Point Arguello crude at its Santa Maria refinery came in response to "speculation and erroneous reports" that it plans to use its pipelines to transport Point Arguello crude to Avila for shipment by tanker.
Unocal has a marine terminal at Avila Beach, just south of San Luis Obispo, Calif. Local press reports cited Santa Barbara County concerns that Unocal might try to tanker Point Arguello crude from the Avila terminal.
Unocal plans at first to purchase 10,000-15,000 b/d of crude from various Point Arguello partners once the project starts up.
The company submitted an application to Santa Barbara County for a permit to build a 12 in., 6 1/2 mile spur from its Bell pump station to the AAPL Sisquoc station.
Production is declining from Unocal's Point Pedernales field, which currently is processed at the Santa Maria refinery.
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