By Yereth Rosen
ANCHORAGE, Alaska, July 17 (Reuters) - The Trans-Alaska Pipeline will shut down on Saturday so that workers can perform scheduled maintenance and upgrades, the system's operator said Friday.
The maintenance shutdown, expected to last 36 hours, is the second of the summer, said Alyeska Pipeline Service Co, the consortium that operates the 800-mile line and its Valdez marine terminal.
The major scheduled project is installation of a pig launcher at Pump Station 8, 40 miles south of Fairbanks, that will allow Alyeska to run internal cleaning and diagnostic devices over shorter segments.
Alyeska customarily send cleaning pigs every week from an existing launcher at Pump Station 4 in the Brooks Range to the end of the line in Valdez, 656 miles to the south.
But with reduced flow of oil in the line, increased transit time for the oil and a bigger buildup of wax inside the pipe, Alyeska wants to have the option of running pigs through shorter segments, said Alyeska spokeswoman Michelle Egan.
A new pig launcher midway between Pump Station 4 and Valdez will allow that, and allow workers more opportunities to clear off cleaning pigs if necessary, she said.
Oil throughput has averaged slightly less than 700,000 barrels a day in 2009, compared to the 2.1-million-barrel-a-day peak hit in 1988. The reduction is due to declining output at Prudhoe Bay, Kuparuk and other mature North Slope oil fields.
During the weekend shutdown, 45 other smaller tasks along the pipeline and at the Valdez marine terminal are also scheduled to be completed, the company said.
'Alyeska and our contractors have been working hard for months to prepare for these 36 hours,' John Baldridge, Alyeska's pipeline manager, said in a statement. 'The time, effort and expense spent on this shutdown are a good indication of Alyeska's ongoing commitment to maintaining and upgrading the pipeline.'
Alyeska generally has one or two scheduled maintenance shutdowns each summer, allowing major projects to be coordinated and completed while oil flow is halted. The planned shutdowns are usually coordinated with major maintenance projects at the North Slope oil fields, and scheduled for summer because seasonal conditions are optimal.
The weekend maintenance shutdown is the last scheduled this year, Egan said.
The corporation is scheduled in October to run a diagnostic pig through the entire line, a combined device that will search for potential corrosion spots, metal loss, internal dents and deformities. That procedure is expected to cost $2 million, but it will not require any interruption in oil flow.
Alyeska is owned by five companies with interests on the North Slope. Major owners are BP, ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil. Unocal Pipeline Co, which is part of Chevron, and Koch Alaska Pipeline Co hold minor shares.
(Editing by Christian Wiessner)
((New York Energy Desk; Tel: 646-223-6050)) Keywords: ALASKA PIPELINE/MAINTENANCE (For help: Click 'Contact Us' in your desk top, click here or call 1-800-738-8377 for Reuters Products and 1-888-463-3383 for Thomson products; For client training: training.americas@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646-223-5546) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska, July 17 (Reuters) - The Trans-Alaska Pipeline will shut down on Saturday so that workers can perform scheduled maintenance and upgrades, the system's operator said Friday.
The maintenance shutdown, expected to last 36 hours, is the second of the summer, said Alyeska Pipeline Service Co, the consortium that operates the 800-mile line and its Valdez marine terminal.
The major scheduled project is installation of a pig launcher at Pump Station 8, 40 miles south of Fairbanks, that will allow Alyeska to run internal cleaning and diagnostic devices over shorter segments.
Alyeska customarily send cleaning pigs every week from an existing launcher at Pump Station 4 in the Brooks Range to the end of the line in Valdez, 656 miles to the south.
But with reduced flow of oil in the line, increased transit time for the oil and a bigger buildup of wax inside the pipe, Alyeska wants to have the option of running pigs through shorter segments, said Alyeska spokeswoman Michelle Egan.
A new pig launcher midway between Pump Station 4 and Valdez will allow that, and allow workers more opportunities to clear off cleaning pigs if necessary, she said.
Oil throughput has averaged slightly less than 700,000 barrels a day in 2009, compared to the 2.1-million-barrel-a-day peak hit in 1988. The reduction is due to declining output at Prudhoe Bay, Kuparuk and other mature North Slope oil fields.
During the weekend shutdown, 45 other smaller tasks along the pipeline and at the Valdez marine terminal are also scheduled to be completed, the company said.
'Alyeska and our contractors have been working hard for months to prepare for these 36 hours,' John Baldridge, Alyeska's pipeline manager, said in a statement. 'The time, effort and expense spent on this shutdown are a good indication of Alyeska's ongoing commitment to maintaining and upgrading the pipeline.'
Alyeska generally has one or two scheduled maintenance shutdowns each summer, allowing major projects to be coordinated and completed while oil flow is halted. The planned shutdowns are usually coordinated with major maintenance projects at the North Slope oil fields, and scheduled for summer because seasonal conditions are optimal.
The weekend maintenance shutdown is the last scheduled this year, Egan said.
The corporation is scheduled in October to run a diagnostic pig through the entire line, a combined device that will search for potential corrosion spots, metal loss, internal dents and deformities. That procedure is expected to cost $2 million, but it will not require any interruption in oil flow.
Alyeska is owned by five companies with interests on the North Slope. Major owners are BP, ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil. Unocal Pipeline Co, which is part of Chevron, and Koch Alaska Pipeline Co hold minor shares.
(Editing by Christian Wiessner)
((New York Energy Desk; Tel: 646-223-6050)) Keywords: ALASKA PIPELINE/MAINTENANCE (For help: Click 'Contact Us' in your desk top, click here or call 1-800-738-8377 for Reuters Products and 1-888-463-3383 for Thomson products; For client training: training.americas@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646-223-5546) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.