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Vol. 26, No.7 Week of February 14, 2021
Providing coverage of Alaska and northern Canada's oil and gas industry

Challenging, successful year for Alyeska

In 2020 TAPS pipeline operator achieved maximum operational reliability while contending with issues arising from COVID pandemic

Alan Bailey

for Petroleum News

Despite the continuing challenges of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., operator of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, had a successful year in 2020, Brigham McCown, APSC president, told the Alaska Support Industry Alliance on Feb. 3. In fact, the company saw a 100% reliability rating for the pipeline system in 2020, despite the very difficult circumstances.

“It was a challenge and continues to be a challenge,” McCown said, with reference to the pandemic. The company is continuing with its COVID-19 protocols while offering vaccinations in line with the state’s tiered priorities, he said.

McCown also commented that on Nov. 20 the company reached a milestone of 30 million work hours without a lost time incident. He commended the company’s contractors as well as its employees for the company’s success.

He also announced that APSC had named Chugach Alaska Services as its contractor of the year for 2020.

Field visits

Since becoming APSC president in January 2020, following the retirement of Tom Barrett, McCown has been particularly focused on visiting field sites, talking to people who are conducting day-to-day work on the pipeline. One upshot of this is an initiative to re-establish oil terminal and pipeline director positions in Valdez and Fairbanks. A 2018 company re-organization had, among other things, moved all the company directors to company headquarters. McCown said that, while that re-organization has proven successful, it is necessary to have directors at field locations, where they can better connect with the workforce. So, while the 2018 re-organization has remained largely intact, the company’s operations and maintenance division has moved to an asset-based model, under the new directors, he said.

Essential projects continue

Although the pandemic caused the company to defer some work that had been planned for 2020, some significant projects had to be carried out and the company anticipates proceeding with some other essential projects this year.

In particular, after multiple high-water events on the lower Sagavanirktok River between mileposts 22 and 47 of the pipeline threatened pipeline integrity, with more than 300 feet of buried pipeline becoming exposed, remediation was required. In 2020 work crews designed and constructed three spur dikes to protect the pipeline. The project involved an impressive amount of work, with more than 1,000 trips to the closest source of materials for the dikes and a total of 245,000 miles of driving, McCown said.

New heating system

The cooling of oil in the pipeline, with the possibility of wax and ice deposits clogging the line, has been a concern for a number of years, as pipeline throughput has dropped. In 2020, in coordination with the TAPS owners, APSC decided to move ahead with its slipstream heat project at milepost 238 of the pipeline, at Coldfoot, to help deal with this problem.

“If throughput was going to go down, we had to get more heat into the pipeline, because if we didn’t we ran a risk of wax, water, ice buildup, something that nobody wanted,” McCown said. “Slipstream heat has really become a critical component of our ongoing strategy to minimize temperature decreases on the line.”

The new heater at Coldfoot pulls oil from the mainline through an 8-inch diameter pipe, through a heater. Because the heater operates at 400 F, the hot oil has to be blended with cold oil to bring the oil temperature down to 145 F before returning the heated oil to the mainline. The net result is to increase the temperature of the oil in the mainline by 8 F.

Eventually the new heater will become fully automated, with a roving technician checking it twice daily, McCown said.

Also in 2020 crews conducted a pipeline integrity investigation at milepost 775, in Thompson Pass, near Valdez. The crews used excavators to meticulously expose the pipe, which is particularly deeply buried at this steeply inclined location. After conducting some non-destructive testing, the crews carried out some repairs before reburying the line, McCown said.

Plans for 2021

This year APSC plans to remove the ring that used to be used to mix drag reducing agent, or DRA, into the oil at Pump Station 1 on the North Slope. The use of DRA, by reducing the friction between the oil and the pipe internal surface, was critical to achieving high levels of pipeline throughput during the years of peak North Slope oil production. However, the technology is no longer needed. The ring removal project, involving a crew of about 30 people, will take about 24 hours during a 30-hour shutdown scheduled for the fall, McCown said.

Tank inspections for four oil storage tanks are also scheduled for this year. Two of the tanks are at the Valdez Marine Terminal, while the other tanks are at Pump Stations 3 and 9. The draining down of the tanks will begin in May, with work crews, each of about 50 people, conducting the tank draining and inspection over a period of more than three months, depending on the inspection results, McCown said.

Another project, deferred from 2020 but scheduled for this year, involves the “straight lining” of the mainline through the now defunct Pump Station 7, thus disconnecting the pipeline from the pump station infrastructure. Many years ago APSC converted this pump station into an oil heating system, directing the flow of oil through the pump station pipework, to use friction to warm the oil. The new slipstream heater, installed at Coldfoot, renders this inefficient heating system at Pump Station 7 redundant, McCown said.

APSC also plans to address degradation of the pipeline supports on a hill at Lost Creek in the Interior. Because of permafrost creep there has been long-term ground movement, causing tilting of the pipeline vertical support members, McCown said. The plan is to install a woodchip insulation blanket to protect the permafrost, and to replace the vertical support members, he said.

New technologies

Citing as an example the use of state-of-the art night vision technology to improve work capabilities during the Alaska winters, McCown commented that new technologies can enable people to work more effectively, rather than replacing people.

He particularly commented on the use of drones and remote-controlled boats to improve efficiency and safety. In 2019 the University of Alaska Fairbanks worked with APSC to pioneer the use of drones beyond the line of visual sight, a practice that the Federal Aviation Administration has now approved. Drones enable the capturing of more accurate data while keeping people safe, McCown said. For example, in 2017 APSC used a drone to investigate a problem with the flare tip at Pump Station 1. Remote controlled boats can be used to monitor the pipeline cover depth below rivers, estuaries and stream bottoms, he said.

Positive outlook

Saying that Alaska oil has to be able to compete in the world oil market, McCown thanked the contractor community for its support in successfully opposing a ballot initiative in the recent election to increase Alaska oil industry taxation.

McCown expressed a positive view of the future for the Alaska oil industry, while also recognizing that people need to prepare for a changing world, with renewable energies becoming important. He commented that, on the other hand, a transition from oil and gas will likely take a long time to accomplish.

“I think the future is bright for Alaska,” McCown said.



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