Natural gas system grows in Fairbanks: new customer on the North Slope?(BUILDING ALASKA)

In addition to pipelines, the project includes installation of pigging facilities, corrosion-inhibitor-injection facilities and leak-detection and metering facilities, and affiliated electrical and emergency systems, Beaudo said. "We also replaced pipeline lines in the Lisburne Field, Milne field and others in Prudhoe as part of our ongoing inspection, mitigation and repair program in 2007," he added.

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According to BP's Web site, the company spent $71 million in 2006 for its corrosion-monitoring and mitigation programs on the North Slope, an increase of 15 percent from similar spending in 2005 and an 80 percent increase form spending in 2001.

As part of its ongoing inspection program, BP inspects about 100,000 locations on pipelines in Prudhoe Bay each year, including 60,000 locations for internal corrosions and 40,000 locations for external corrosion. "To make sure lines are fit for service, we make modifications and repairs to 250 to 300 sections of pipe a year," Beaudo said. "Most of those cases involve small-facility piping."

Each year, BP runs more than 370 maintenance pigs, he added--devices that clean the inside of pipelines and remove sediments. Cleaning pigs are being run weekly, Beaudo said.

The company "... believed the corrosion inspection and monitoring program it had in place was effective," Beaudo said, adding that BP has revised and improved its corrosion management processes.

"We have doubled the size of our Anchorage-based corrosion staff and we have approximately tripled the number of people engaged in inspection activities on the North Slope," Beaudo said. "Our integrity-related spending will increase threefold with a total spending of about $200 million this year and $250 million in 2008."

BP also retained three leading corrosion and infrastructure experts to independently review and make recommendations for improving the corrosion inspection, monitoring and prevention program, he added.

NEW PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION BY CONOCOPHILLIPS

ConocoPhillips, responsible for operations on the western part of the North Slope, has built some short pipelines in recent years through its satellite field developments.

Fiord, a roadless drill pad north of Alpine, and Nanuq, three miles south of Alpine, are connected via pipeline to Alpine production facilities. Construction of the two satellites involved more than 1,400 people and required an investment of $675 million, according to ConocoPhillips.

ConocoPhillips and its partner, Anadarko Petroleum, are also working on the Qannik accumulations, which overlies Alpine. Plans call for developing Qannik from the Alpine CD2 drill site with the first production anticipated in late 2008.

Alpine, located on the western side of existing North Slope infrastructure, pumps its oil to the Kuparuk pipeline and ultimately to the trans-Alaska oil pipeline through a 34-mile-long pipeline system. The Alpine pipe has an outside diameter of 14 inches, transporting about 90,000 to 100,000 barrels of crude daily, according to the company's Web site.

ConocoPhillips uses corrosion inhibitors, which are injected into the production system and form thin barriers to corrosive fluids. Water-injection lines are also treated with chemicals to reduce internal corrosion, and they are cleaned regularly using pigs, the company stated.

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