Project Description
The Alaska Pipeline Project proposes to design, permit and construct a new natural gas pipeline system beginning near the Point Thomson field and extending through Alaska over one of two alternative routes.
One route, the Alberta option, would extend from Point Thomson to points near Prudhoe Bay, Fairbanks, and Delta Junction, and then to the Alaska-Canada border, where the pipeline would interconnect to a new pipeline in Canada. The pipeline in Canada would extend from the Alaska-Canada border to an interconnection point with pipeline systems near Boundary Lake, Alberta, Canada, providing the capability of transporting natural gas into the contiguous United States.
An alternative pipeline route, the Valdez option , would extend from the Point Thomson field through points near Prudhoe Bay, Fairbanks, Delta Junction, and then to an interconnection point with LNG facilities (to be built by third parties) near Valdez, Alaska.
In both options, a minimum of five in-state connections to the main pipeline in Alaska, called off-takes, would provide local natural gas suppliers the opportunity to obtain natural gas to meet community needs. For the Alberta option, local off-takes will also be available along the pipeline route in Canada.
The Alaska Pipeline Project proposes to design, permit and construct a new gas treatment plant (GTP) as an integral component of the project’s facilities. It would be located near existing Prudhoe Bay facilities and operate in conjunction with either the Alberta or the Valdez options.
A natural gas transmission pipeline connecting the Point Thomson field to the GTP is also a proposed component of both options.
The Alaska Pipeline Project is a world-class undertaking in all of its aspects.
- The gas transmission pipeline between the Point Thomson field and the GTP consists of a 32-inch pipeline, approximately 58 miles in length, with no compression. The initial capacity of this pipeline has been set at 1.1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) and is expandable.
- The GTP as currently envisioned would be made up of four trains for the Alberta option, with an initial design to treat up to 5.3 Bcf/d of raw gas and the ability to deliver into the pipeline 4.5 Bcf/d of treated gas. The Valdez option would have three trains and treat up to 3.5 Bcf/d of raw natural gas and would have the ability to deliver into the pipeline 3.0 Bcf/d of treated natural gas.
- The Alberta option would include an approximately 1700-mile, 48-inch diameter pipeline (734 miles in Alaska and 966 miles in Canada). The initial capacity would be 4.5 Bcf/d, expandable with compression to 5.9 Bcf/d. Under the 4.5 Bcf/d base design, the system would include six compressor stations in Alaska and eleven in Canada, expanding to a total of thirty three compressor stations under the 5.9 Bcf/d case. Given that the pipeline would operate in areas of continuous and discontinuous permafrost, gas chillers would be installed at the GTP and at several of the compressor stations located along the pipeline route.
- The Valdez option would include an approximately 800-mile, 48-inch diameter pipeline, and would have two compressors to support the initial design capacity of 3.0 Bcf/d.