Legislature(2007 - 2008)BUTROVICH 205
02/14/2007 03:30 PM Senate RESOURCES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Corrosion Overview-dec | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | HB 37 | TELECONFERENCED | |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE RESOURCES STANDING COMMITTEE
February 14, 2007
3:33 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Charlie Huggins, Chair
Senator Bert Stedman, Vice Chair
Senator Lyda Green
Senator Gary Stevens
Senator Bill Wielechowski
Senator Thomas Wagoner
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Lesil McGuire
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
Presentation: After the pipeline shutdown: update on corrosion
BP Alaska
Department of Environmental Conservation
Department of Natural Resources
Department of Law
Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission
HOUSE BILL NO. 37
"An Act establishing the first Saturday of every March as Susan
Butcher Day."
SCHEDULED BUT NOT HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No action to report
WITNESS REGISTER
MIKE UTSLER, Senior Vice President
Prudhoe Bay Operations
BP Alaska
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Described BP's response to pipeline
corrosion and spill incidents.
TONY BROCK, Technical Director
BP Alaska
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Described BP's response to pipeline
corrosion and spill incidents.
JONNE SLEMONS, Acting Coordinator
Petroleum System Integrity Office
Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
POSITION STATEMENT: Introduced speakers from state agencies.
LARRY DIETRICK, Director
Division of Spill Prevention and Response
Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC)
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented information on BP's pipeline
corrosion and spill incident and state response to it.
CATHY FOERSTER, Commissioner
Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered question on pipeline oversight.
ACTION NARRATIVE
CHAIR CHARLIE HUGGINS called the Senate Resources Standing
Committee meeting to order at 3:33:22 PM. Senators Wielechowski,
Stedman, Green, Stevens, Wagoner, and Chair Huggins were present
at the call to order.
Overview: ^BP Pipeline Corrosion
3:34:57 PM
MIKE UTSLER, Senior Vice President, Prudhoe Bay Operations, BP
Alaska, said he has been in his role for six weeks, and he came
from the North Sea after five years with BP. He has 30 years in
the industry, focusing on how to optimize and improve the
performance of mature, declining fields around the globe. He
said the scale and the scope of the challenges on the North
Slope are quite impressive.
3:36:39 PM
MR. UTSLER said he has two responsibilities: to timely and
efficiently develop resources and to operate safely, reliably,
and in a sustainable way. He will provide an update on the
commitments BP has made and give the committee a more detailed,
technical look at the efforts on assuring that the existing
systems are safe and what the plan is for rebuilding and
renewing the systems for a 50-year future.
3:39:16 PM
MR. UTSLER said he will update the committee on the seven
commitments BP made in August. The first was to contain and
cleanup the oil spill, which was 23 barrels of oil and 300
barrels of surface water. With large numbers of people and in
cooperation with the agencies, BP has reclaimed and recovered
with the minimum of impact. Also recovered were 176 barrels of
product that was not spilled to the tundra. In the 100 days
after the spill, BP did extensive work on existing transit
lines. The lines were pigged and inspected to insure operational
integrity. BP built a number of bypasses, five of which are
pipeline bypasses in service today to enable BP to quickly
restore production to the pre-spill rates. In January, BP
delivered over 430,000 barrels of gross oil a day through the
system, which is equal to the rates prior to the shutdown.
MR. UTSLER said the second commitment was to understand what
happened with the corrosion. BP has detailed that mechanism with
a number of agencies and third party specialists. BP also
committed to initiate a maintenance and smart pigging program
for all transit lines across Prudhoe Bay, and it has delivered
on its smart pigging expectations and weekly maintenance
pigging. The smart pigging is done on the agency-recommended
schedule. BP also committed to include all BP-operated transit
lines under the Department of Transportation and Public
Facilities (DOT) pipeline integrity management program. It has
implemented all phase-one commitments, except for one, which
will be completed at a later time. A second phase will bring the
entire system under the program.
3:42:55 PM
MR. UTSLER said the fifth commitment was "that we would create a
clear and distinct separation of the responsibilities and
accountabilities for the fields operations versus the technical
assurance being independent of how we operate the field operated
day to day in the BP organization." To do that BP created the
technical directorate under Tony Brock, which will provide BP
with the strategic planning, technical detail, and the action
plans that BP is responsible to execute against everyday. The
sixth commitment was that, with partners, BP would continue to
identify and approach its major maintenance activities. He said
that this year BP plans to spend over $195 million in
maintenance repair operations, and this is four times the level
of spending in 2004. The seventh commitment was that BP will be
extremely open and transparent and work with regulators to look
at industry standards and best practices in order "to insure
that together we develop, where necessary, the right regulatory
expectations and guidelines for how we can manage this process
for the future and hopefully ensure with absolute certainty that
we can continue to deliver on that promise we're making, which
is for the next fifty-plus years keep the product in the pipe,
deliver it day in and day out to our customer base for the
benefit of the state of Alaskans, certainly our company, and the
working-interest owners that are participating with us."
3:45:44 PM
MR. UTSLER said BP has made amazing progress. He spoke of the
impressive, world-class response from BP, contractors, service
providers, agency personnel, and technical experts.
3:47:06 PM
SENATOR WAGONER asked how many feet of pipe were bypassed.
MR. UTSLER said three miles on the west end and three miles on
the east end. He said what BP calls the "gathering center two to
one" pipe to the flow station have been bypassed. There are
other bypasses installed but not used, which would allow for a
short response to a future event while retaining the majority of
the production flow in the field.
SENATOR WAGONER asked about the size of the bypass pipe.
3:48:18 PM
MR. UTSLER said BP downsized in the temporary bypasses, "which
are…able to be operated for an extended period of the field's
life." They have smaller capacity and "have had minor impacts to
our abilities to flow the west side of the field. But these are
very small impacts at this stage."
SENATOR WAGONER said his staff reviewed Steve Marshall's
testimony, and he asked how often BP will smart pig.
3:49:23 PM
MR. UTSLER said it will be discussed in detail, but briefly, BP
is working with agencies on a planned scheduled. Mechanical
pigging is weekly, and ultrasonic testing is ongoing, which is
the most accurate way to measure the thickness of the wall of
the pipe. The intent is to smart pig yearly. BP has pigged the
line twice with intelligent pigs after August 2006 and will
repeat it in 2007.
SENATOR STEDMAN asked Mr. Utsler to compare historical
expenditures against the projected ones and what impact the PPT
[profit-based petroleum tax of 2006] has on that change.
MR. UTSLER said he cannot answer the second part of the question
because he doesn't have that knowledge, and it's not his area of
responsibility. His job is to develop the resources, and others
work on taxes. The company is undergoing a massive redevelopment
of maintenance strategies. He expects that expenses will stay at
the current level or increase, and they will depend on what
needs to be spent to keep the product in the pipe.
CHAIR HUGGINS asked Mr. Utsler what "field" really means and the
things that are under that designation.
MR. UTSLER said his day to day responsibilities are "drilling
and development of new wells, the repairing of existing wells as
they need additional repairs or require stimulation to improve
productivity performance, through the physical operation of
producing from the reservoir, through the well bores, through
the surface facilities and into the pipeline systems taking it
to the customer. I'm responsible, and my organization, for that
day-to-day activity set that not only delivers today's product
but also is planning for the future, for this 50 years and
what's required in terms of new infrastructure, new facilities,
and how that works."
MR. UTSLER said Mr. Brock's responsibility is to report
independently to BP Alaska's president and "to create the
strategic planning and technical evaluation of what do we need
to do and what should we be doing to create that assurance in
our operations my teams execute against that plan."
3:53:40 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS asked if Mr. Brock just gives Mr. Utsler a copy
and doesn't coordinate with Mr. Utsler.
MR. UTSLER said it is totally independent, and under the
commitment that BP made in August, "if his team and his
technical experts say that we are not operating within those
guidelines, he shuts us down, not me."
CHAIR HUGGINS asked how the $195 million is apportioned.
3:54:19 PM
MR. UTSLER said the budgets are broken down into different
activity sets. BP works with its partners to approve the levels
of activity. The field is the big expense, he said, and Mr.
Brock's team "is working to deliver the plans that we then need
to execute. The execution is where the operations are, at the
end of the day, accountable in the line for delivering on those
plans. But his challenge is to ensure that I'm informed and that
our organization understands what it means to comply with the
law and the requirements associated with that, conform with the
standards of both industry, state, and BP's own technical
standards."
CHAIR HUGGINS asked if both positions existed before [the
spill].
MR. UTSLER said his position did exist and that person "had the
totality of our technical, as well as our operational,
experiences. Post August, the organization was created, called
the technical directorate, in which Tony is responsible for his
team's efforts on what I've described previously."
3:55:51 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if the past practices were deficient.
MR. UTSLER said he can't respond to past practices, but his job
is to learn from all past experiences and apply them to the
future in order to keep the product in the line.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked for Mr. Utsler's evaluation of the
program before the new policies and procedures were implemented.
He asked if they were comparable with industry standards. "Were
they adequate, in you opinion?"
MR. UTSLER said, "My initial learnings over the first six weeks
of our businesses is that this is a remarkable piece of
operations with some remarkable peoples doing their very best to
do a great job. I think that my own personal evaluations of our
practices and processes--I'm still learning to understand what
we've done in the past, where do we need to go in the future,
and working with Tony and the technical directorate to ensure
that we've taken those lessons learned and, again, apply them to
the future in our operations." He said it is the only answer
that he can offer after six weeks on the job.
3:57:35 PM
SENATOR STEDMAN noted that there have been discussions recently
on the status of Prudhoe Bay and that there may be a lot of life
left in the oil fields. "If that's…true, with your maintenance
schedule that you're going to put forward and changing pipe
size--lowering the capacity, I assume, by running smaller pipe,
is the structure of the basin going to be capable of expanding
if the PPT is successful and we get more drilling and
exploration…Or are we going to be in a position where the field
has been restructured to size, volumes, that are expected today,
without a positive impact from PPT?"
MR. UTSLER said he has worked many mature basins, and some
produce after 100 years. Prudhoe Bay is mature in terms of the
existing reservoirs to be developed, but it has a huge life
remaining. "It has years and years and years of forward
potential." He said BP is looking at how to optimize the light
oil recovery component of greater Prudhoe Bay and to expand
viscous crude production from the western sides of the fields.
He said BP wants to get into heavy oil, which is a significant
resource for the long term, and then "the gas blow-down phases
of the ultimate field depletion strategy." There are over 50
years in the mature basin environment. "We're building that
future of those four differing phases of potential upside and
ongoing operations into that plan." Prudhoe Bay is a phenomenal
resource and opportunity, "and it's our job to steward that
development in a safe, efficient, and effective way."
4:01:02 PM
TONY BROCK, Technical Director, BP Alaska, said he had his
position since August 2006, and he has worked 20 years for BP in
Southeast Asia, the North Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico. He said
he is aware of and excited about the challenges of Alaska's
mature fields. The technical directorate is a new organization
that reports to the president of BP Alaska. Its role is "to
develop our petrochemical capability and manage that shared
resource across BP's assets in the North Slope." It is also "to
provide and drive strategic plans and direction for the
development of our operating systems, our practices, our codes
and our organizational construct." And the most important role
is to provide independent verification that operations are done
under codes and regulations, he stated.
4:02:56 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS suggested he is an "inspector general."
MR. BROCK said that is correct in principle. Mr. Brock did a
slide presentation and showed a map of transit lines. He noted
that GC stands for gathering center in the western part of the
field, and FS means field station for the eastern side. He said
that the line is 16 miles from GC2 to FS2. The east and west
come at skid50, where the crude comes together from the greater
Prudhoe Bay field before going to pump station one, which is at
the start of the TAPS system. A leak occurred between GC2 and
GC1 in March, he stated, and in August, a leak was identified
between FS2 and FS1. Those two sections of line are now out of
service, and the section between GC2 and GC1 is being
decommissioned. The other will be decommissioned in 2008.
4:05:31 PM
MR. BROCK spoke of BP's activities within 100 days after the
spill. It stripped over 43,000 feet of pipe to get access to
lines to carry out 22,000 ultrasonic inspections. The company
installed five new pipeline bypass systems to reestablish
production. BP also de-canted and de-oiled the suspended
sections of line between FS2-1 and GC2-1, which allowed it to do
34 hot taps and decant the oil into tankers and then into the
export system. It installed a new pig launcher at GC1, and ran
six cleaning pigs, including two smart pigs from FS1 to skid50.
The two smart pigs provided 100 percent data recovery, he said.
In the western operating area, BP ran six cleaning pigs, one
gauge pig, and two smart pigs. He said BP restarted FS2 through
a bypass to the Endicott pipeline system. He said the support
from the regulatory agencies was appreciated, and BP was allowed
to put forward its permits and commercial agreements with its
partners to deliver the bypasses in a timely manner. As part of
the investigation into the root cause of the failure, BP
recovered two 40-foot sections of 34-inch pipe--one from each
area--and underwent in-depth analyses to determine the specific
mechanism associated with the corrosion.
4:08:22 PM
MR. BROCK said BP shut down and restarted seven major production
facilities, and in October had reestablished production numbers
to the numbers prior to the August shut down. He showed a
diagram illustrating the transit line system and the bypass
lines, some of which are not commissioned but can be put in
place in a matter of days rather than weeks.
4:10:01 PM
MR. BROCK said BP is still trying to determine the actual cause
of the leaks. There are three causal factors: water in the
system, sediment, and bacteria. The fourth factor is reduced
velocities. The lines were designed for a much greater flow
rate, so the reduced velocity allows for sediment to fall out
and contribute to the corrosion. BP will add a corrosion
inhibitor to mitigate the effects of carbon dioxide. To address
stagnant water or sediment buildup in the lines, BP is running
weekly maintenance pigs and looking at the solids for bacteria
growth, scale, and metallurgy. He said there has been little or
no solids returned from the weekly pigging, but they are
beneficial because they actually clean the inside of the pipe,
remove any residual water, and provide a clean surface for the
biocides that interface with the pipe. Those activities allow BP
to notice any changes in the pipe and intervene as needed. The
company has run over 22,000 ultrasonic inspections, and they are
repeated every three months at known areas of corrosion. He said
a new smart pig will be run within a year.
4:12:46 PM
MR. BROCK showed a picture of ultrasonic inspection work on the
34-inch line during the summer. The work is conducted in the
winter too, but it is challenging because most lines are under
two or three feet of snow. He showed a picture of a
sophisticated, smart pig. Maintenance pigs clean debris from the
system, but smart pigs are electromagnetic sensor tools that
touch 100 percent of the pipe and give an indication of where
corrosion is. It works best in conjunction with ultrasonic
inspections, an operation unique to Prudhoe Bay. Most pipelines
are buried and inaccessible, but Prudhoe Bay pipe is above the
tundra, so the ultrasonic follow-up can be done.
4:14:41 PM
MR. BROCK showed an illustration of the removal of pipe to
determine the root cause of the corrosion. As BP replaces the
OTL [oil transit line] system, causes of corrosion need to be
understood in order to design and manage the system. He said BP
has an extensive surveillance program with four daily infrared
inspections of the lines, and every day BP covers 80 miles of
lines. There are daily infrared flights, and BP has added two
25-person shifts since August. The company has trained personnel
in forward looking infrared with rigorous reporting procedures.
4:16:09 PM
MR. BROCK showed an overview of the system, and BP's plans are
to replace the system with a brand new, totally redesigned,
transit line system for the 40 to 50-year life of the field.
CHAIR HUGGINS asked the total miles that BP is monitoring.
MR. BROCK said 60 miles are monitored in this section. Each
transit line system will be sized for the projected growth of
the field. BP has incorporated the production profiles with the
life of the field and has actually sized the pipe for optimum
production and management of flow conditions. There will be the
capability to regularly launch pigs, corrosion inhibitor will be
added continuously, 20 new modules and skids will be added, and
the best available leak detection system will be added.
4:19:19 PM
MR. BROCK said the leak detection system will be more reliable
and incorporate new turbine flow meters, ultrasonic meters, and
new "ATMOS" software to manage the readouts. He said BP will add
a new "LEOS" pilot between GC2 and GC1, allowing detection of
small leaks similar to the leaks from last summer. The pipeline
will be designed to the specifications of DOT 49 CFR 95 and a
30-year life. "In addition we will be designing out of the
system some of the characteristics that we feel contributed to
the corrosion during 2006, namely we'll try and avoid, where
possible, caribou crossings that cause dips in the line." The
line will be elevated to four feet for access, he said.
CHAIR HUGGINS said TAPS staff said the difficulty is the rate of
flow, and he asked if that caused some of the problems.
MR. BROCK said low velocities allowed sediment to fall out, and
he thinks that was a contributing factor.
CHAIR HUGGINS asked what the optimum velocity is.
MR. BROCK said three feet per second, so BP is sizing the pipe
for the forecasted declining production rates.
4:21:58 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS asked if different pigs are used for small pipes.
MR. BROCK said yes, and he showed a typical pig launcher module
to be designed and constructed using Alaskans and installed next
winter. They have to be accessible and operated year round.
4:23:01 PM
MR. BROCK said the renewal program includes replacing two
segments in 2007 and two in 2008. The module work will take
longer, but the current goal is installing the entire system by
the end of 2008. BP got assistance from the agencies and he
thanked their efforts. There have been over 22 permits approved,
he noted. He showed a detailed overview of the "ATMOS" leak
detection system. It is a gas chromatograph system to be
attached underneath the pipeline, and it can pick up a
hydrocarbon trace. It is new technology. He said the crew is 250
people in addition to slope staff.
4:25:48 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS asked about the status of the 250 people.
MR. BROCK said the crew that will install the pipelines is about
250 people, and BP has added a 150-person camp to the North
Slope facilities and procured 100 extra beds in Deadhorse. They
are "cutting their teeth" on the simpler project of replacing a
line on the Milne Point oil field.
CHAIR HUGGINS asked if it is skilled Alaskan labor.
MR. BROCK said yes.
4:26:51 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS asked if that system had been in place, would it
have detected the difficulties.
MR. BROCK said he has only been here for six months and the
technical directorate is a new organization. His role is to act
as an independent verification body to provide assurance to BP
senior management that things are up to BP standards. That
independent process is still being established. He said he
couldn't answer the question.
4:27:59 PM
SENATOR STEVENS asked if the LEOS system could be used in a gas
pipeline.
MR. BROCK said BP's goal is to test the technology. There is a
similar technology on the North Star pipeline, but it is not
proven it in the arctic environment. If it is proven, then there
may be wider applications for it.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if the system was up to BP standards
before the leak occurred.
MR. BROCK said there were robust procedures in place and BP was
surprised at the events of 2006, and it is trying to learn from
those. "And I think we need to learn from those and put in place
additional standards to ensure they don't happen again, but my
belief is that we were working within BP standards at the time."
4:29:34 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS asked about temperatures and wax.
MR. BROCK said there is not much wax buildup in Prudhoe Bay
crude. There will be more viscous oil, so it is important to
maintain a minimum temperature within the transit line system.
The pipe will be insulated, he noted.
CHAIR HUGGINS asked if viscous oil is heavy oil.
MR. BROCK said viscous if different from heavy. Viscous is
moveable, and heavy oil will need different technologies.
CHAIR HUGGINS said he hears that Alaska's destiny is heavy oil.
Some people in the industry probably have experience in it, and
he wants that topic discussed in the future.
4:31:25 PM
MR. BROCK said his job is to manage the technology program for
the strategic performance unit, and there is a team working on
heavy oil technology.
CHAIR HUGGINS said the destiny of state revenue is a serious
issue. He noted the importance of the partnership with the oil
companies and how fragile public confidence is. "We take
seriously the public relations piece of it, the environmental
piece of it, and, of course, ultimately your making money and us
making money on the revenue side matters too. So we say thank
you very much."
The committee took an at-ease from 4:32:50 PM until 4:37:26 PM.
CHAIR HUGGINS noted the presence of Willie Hensley.
^Corrosion overview-DEC
JONNE SLEMONS, Acting Coordinator, Petroleum System Integrity
Office, said there were five state agencies at the meeting.
4:39:13 PM
LARRY DIETRICK, Director, Division of Spill Prevention and
Response, Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), said
he will update the committee on the DEC activities since the
spill. A number of things have been sorted out regarding
jurisdictional issues. At the time of the spill incidents, those
16 miles of transit lines were not under any state or federal
regulatory program for corrosion management. The single phase
crude oil pipelines that transport the finished product from the
production centers to the pump stations are normally regulated
by the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration. The 16 miles of transit lines were exempted from
that, so were not regulated. The state has a single requirement
for those lines and that is for a leak detection system.
4:41:42 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if there are any other lines in
Alaska that are not covered by state or federal jurisdiction.
MR. DIETRICK said the flow lines were not covered, but they are
now. "We believe now that the flow lines, facility lines, and
the transit lines are all covered." If the lines were a tree,
the trunk would be the TAPS, the major branches would be the
feeder lines from the production centers, and the branches would
be the well lines and the flow lines. Crude oil transit lines
are regulated by the federal government, which includes all
other similar lines on the North Slope. It is only the 16 miles
that were the exception. Since August, Congress passed the
Pipeline Inspection Protection Enforcement and Safety Act of
2006, which specifically provides that the lines be included
under federal regulation. Under that act, the office of pipeline
safety must issue low stress regulations by the end of this year
and complete a leak detection technology study. So the 16 miles
of lines are now consistent with all other lines and will be
regulated into the future.
4:43:55 PM
MR. DIETRICK showed a schematic of pump station one and the
TAPS. The trunk lines are now all regulated by the federal
office of pipeline safety. Upstream from the processing facility
will be regulated by the state. The state completed adoption of
the regulations with phased implementation dates, which will
cover the lines that come from the processing facilities up to
the well pads. The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission
(AOGCC) has jurisdiction over the wellhead, and the well lines
will also be covered by the new DEC regulations.
4:45:35 PM
MR. DIETRICK said the flow lines tend to be more corrosive
because it is prior to the separation of the water and gas. He
said the Department of Law reviewed all the state's pipeline
authorities. "We did look at these multiphase flow lines and the
well lines upstream from the production facilities, and, as
well, related, what we call facility piping." Those were all
captured in DEC's regulatory package that is now in place. The
state has one remaining requirement on the single phase
pipeline, and that is a leak detection requirement, which is an
overlap with the federal government.
4:47:21 PM
MR. DIETRICK said the single phase lines must meet the state's
leak detection performance standard, and BP is proposing a
modified system for the new pipe. The leak detection system was
in place and operational at the time of these events.
4:48:18 PM
MR. DIETRICK said the state regulations will be in effect in
2009, and the operations and maintenance will kick in at the end
of this year. The flow lines can be up to 30 inches, and he
showed a picture of a Kuparuk pipeline that also had a failure
this summer and was replaced. He showed a table of the three
types of pipelines. The crude oil transmission pipelines are the
single phase pipelines and are 6 to 48 inches inside, and there
is a single state regulatory requirement on those pipelines for
the leak detection system that must meet one percent of the
daily throughput. The rest of the standards are all covered by
the federal government. The flow lines of facility oil piping
are not covered by the federal government. "The jurisdictional
thing is actually hand in glove; it's a good fit. Basically the
state covers upstream; the federal government covers downstream
of the production facilities, and we both have a leak detection
requirement, but they're consistent and not in conflict."
CHAIR HUGGINS asked if state regulations have been developed.
4:50:39 PM
MR. DIETRICK said the rules have been completed and adopted. A
compliance inspection program is being developed to implement
those rules.
CHAIR HUGGINS asked if he is confident with the schedule.
MR. DIETRICK said yes, the compliance schedule is set in the
rule making. He showed a photo of the spill site. The DEC is
establishing a job class for the state for a corrosion engineer
for the flow line inspection program. It is developing review
criteria, and there will be pipeline inspection training given
by the industry. The legal review of the authorities has been
completed. There were technology conferences on pigging, and
there is a current National Association of Corrosion Engineers
meeting with a pipeline integrity course going on in Anchorage.
The DEC is participating in an investigation of the specific
cause of the corrosion, and it is coordinating with other
agencies through a state pipeline technical team. It is
exploring additional training that focuses on education under
the federal pipeline rules, and it is reviewing federal rules.
4:53:31 PM
MR. DIETRICK said DEC will deal with design and construction
standards, preventative maintenance, removal-from-service
requirements, compliance recordkeeping, baseline assessment to
establish initial pipe condition, corrosion and erosion
monitoring inspection, internal and external measurements of
pipe wall thickness, industry standards identified in the
regulations, fitness for service standards, and rules for
process monitoring for water cut, microbes, velocities, and
corrosivity. There are about 200 miles of single phase transit
lines on the North Slope, and there are over 1500 miles of flow
lines and facility piping. He said DEC is collaborating with DNR
in the enhanced state integrity oversight for oil and gas
infrastructure, and it is participating in a detailed gap
analysis of the structures on the North Slope.
4:55:17 PM
MR. DIETRICK pointed out to a diagram of what is regulated in
the pipeline system and if there are any gaps.
CHAIR HUGGINS asked if anyone ever noted the lack of upstream
state oversight.
4:56:31 PM
CATHY FOERSTER, Commissioner, Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation
Commission, said the type of lines that the state is talking
about regulating now are not regulated in any of the other 49
states. This is inside the company-owned facilities or field
infrastructure, and one would assume it is in the operators'
interest "to maintain his own stuff, and you stay out of his
business as far as maintenance." She said, "It's not that we had
a gap, it just hasn't been done before. It would be kind of like
somebody regulating how often you change the oil in your car."
But the state of Alaska cares, and there is the need to step in.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said there are 800 miles of line and it
seems odd that the only portion that fails is the portion that
is not regulated. He noted unregulated areas in the DEC diagram
and asked if the speakers feel comfortable that these do not
need to be regulated.
4:58:25 PM
MR. DIETRICK said the diagram is the specific DEC regulatory
requirements. Other agencies will look at their jurisdictional
authorities. This is the first step in identifying gaps.
CHAIR HUGGINS said the presentation will continue on Monday and
adjourned the meeting at 5:00:25 PM.
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