Alaska Oil Pipeline Corrosion

by BWK ~ February 4, 2008

A Different Kind of Corrosion? Uh-Oh.

Our Peak Oil correspondent Byron King checked in with a report of a recent pipeline leak on Alaska’s North Slope. Thankfully, it was small — 102 barrels — and quickly contained. The leak did not interrupt overall North Slope extraction, or delay flow of oil through the Trans Alaska Pipeline. But it is the way that the leak occurred that is disconcerting.

Apparently rust formed on the outside of a gathering pipeline that serves the Kuparuk Field, operated by Conoco-Phillips. The initial corrosion occurred beneath an outer layer of insulation, so it was not visible by external inspection. But neither could the rust be detected via internal inspection (known as “pigging” — don’t ask). Eventual, the pressure within the pipeline burst through the area weakened by rust. Oil sprayed out and soaked into adjacent snow, and was blown some distance by the howling winds. Byron noted that “it is the Arctic winter up there, so it is totally dark and bitterly cold. Just working outside requires an immense logistical effort to get to the damaged spot, illuminate the area, stay warm enough not to die, make repairs and clean up.”

According to Leslie Pearson, emergency preparation and response program manager for the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, the damage to the pipeline indicates that it is “a different type of corrosion.” Thus the key issue is whether this leak is “an indicator of what’s going on throughout the field, or not?”

And according to Byron, “This corrosion is not just a North Slope problem. Much of the world’s oil infrastructure is decades old, and long past its design life. Now on the North Slope we have a ‘different kind of corrosion’ that no one anticipated. And what is next? What else is out there? The world oil supply and demand are balanced on a knife’s edge. If some larger issue arises — a larger leak or the failure of an offshore platform — that takes down any significant amount of oil output, prices could easily spike on world markets. You have to watch the world’s oil patch like a hawk.”

And watching the oil patch like a hawk is exactly what Byron does. If you want to read his insights into the world of energy and natural resources, consider signing up for a subscription to Outstanding Investments.

Reference…

http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN1929681420071219?rpc=401