Alpine Project Brings Technology 'Firsts' to Alaska's North Slope

摘要

A $1.1 billion project to develop the Alpine oil field, on the edge of the Arctic Ocean in Alaska, set out facing some rather large challenges—including building a 35-mile (56-km) pipeline that required crossing a 1-mile-wide 1.6-km) section of the Colville am mm River. The project's river crossing introduced several innovative technologies to Alaska's North Slope, including a unique corrosion control system. Owned by ARCO Alaska, Inc. (78%) and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (22%), the Alpine oil field is located 35 miles west of the Kuparuk oil field and 9 miles (14 km) north of the village of Nuiqsut. Beginning this summer, sales-quality oil will move to market through a 14-in. (356-mm) pipeline connecting the Alpine field to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, via the Kuparuk Pipeline System.