New North Slope storage pad in works

Petroleum News

Afognak Leasing LLC has applied to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build a storage pad for oil and gas operators on the North Slope.

The Corps said the proposal is for a 21.88-acre pad, the Cama’i gravel pad, which would “support operational and logistical needs of various North Slope oil and gas operators in an area that minimizes the distance operators have to travel to get their supplies.”

The Cama’i pad would be used to store movable buildings, camps, oilfield support equipment, supplies and modules, and “could be used for vehicle and equipment storage and as a laydown yard with adequate space for moving equipment around the modules and facilities contained on the pad.”

The project would be built in three phases on an as-needed basis, with material for the project to come from Mine Site C unless an alternative source of comparable quality and cost becomes available.

The current proposal is for Phase I, which would consist of the placement of some 92,500 cubic yards of fill material on 11.2 acres of wetlands, offset 30 feet from the Spine Road near Mustang Pad and DS-2S. This portion of the project is slated for development in the winter and summer of 2019.

Phase II would consist of some 45,600 cubic yards of fill in a 5.42-acre area contiguous to the southern end of Phase I and is tentatively slated for development in the summer of 2021 based on industry needs.

Phase III, the final phase, would place some 43,900 cubic yards of fill into 5.26 acres immediately northwest of Phase II. If there is need for this phase, it would likely be constructed in the summer of 2023.

The Corps is taking comments on the project through Jan. 28.

- Petroleum News