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Home My WebLink AboutCO 114 ) ) Image Project Order File Cover Page XHVZE This page identifies those items that were not scanned during the initial production scanning phase. They are available in the original file, may be scanned during a special rescan activity or are viewable by direct inspection of the file. r ~D f I 4- Order File Identifier Organizing (done) o Two-sided III 1111111111111111 ~escan Needed 1111111111111111111 RE}CAN ~Color Items: o Greyscale Items: DIGITAL DATA OVERSIZED (Scannable) o Maps: D Other Items Scannable by a large Scanner D Diskettes, No. D Other, No/Type: o Poor Quality Originals: OVERSIZED (Non-Scannable) D Other: Scanning Preparation x 30 = + D logs of various kinds: A-V'1 & , .-L ' r:ÚJuj Iì i ~&-R I)ðOther::Crf\~ r ~H'~trS Date: to 16 '0"5 151 VV1tP " 1111111111111111111 Dale: k b '();Ç 151 vvvr = -OTAl PAGES I q3 (Coun) ~oE"S 1'0', include cover sheet) 1/\ ^ l) Date: If , ~ os- 151 r V vt·J NOTES: BY: Helen~ Project Proofing BY: Helen ~ BY: Helen \..~'~;¡;-) \ Production Scanning 1111111111111111111 Stage 1 Page Count from Scanned File: J C if- (Count does include cover sheet) Page Count Matches Number in Sca~ning Preparation: ~ YES , ' Helen .c."r~ ") Date: h (p, 06 If NO in stage 1, page(s) discrepancies were found: NO Isl mp BY: Stage 1 BY: Helen Maria YES NO Date: Isl III 1111111111111111 1111111111111111111 Date: Isl Quality Checked 1I1III1I11111111111 Scanning is complete at this point unless rescanning is required. ReScanned BY: Helen Maria Comments about this file: 12/1/2004 Orders File Cover Page. doc ) ) Conservation Order 114 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. May 12, 1973 May 19, 1972 June 14, 1984 December 17, 1984 September 9, 1985 Transcript Marathon Oil Company submittal of information Amoco's request for a Flare Exception (114.1) Amoco's request for a Flare Limit Exception (114.2) Amoco's request for a Flare Limit Exception (114.3) Conservation Order 114 JIgL1 I . I nve n-¡-ory 2. C. O. fll14 ) )) I~ I NV[r"JTOF~Y Cm,JSEFN AT I ON Of<!J[f~ // 114 (establishes the size of a safety flare for Cook Inlet Platforms and shore faci lities) 3. Affidavit of publication Marathon Oi I Co. 4. Notice of publication 5. Exhibits I 6. Exhibit 2 7. Exhibit 3 8. Exhibit 4 Union Oi I Co. 9. Exhibit A 10. Exhibit ^ (Exhibit 2 of C. O. #103 - A) Marathon - Union Gas Gathering system Dolly Varden Platform Gas Diagram Dolly Varden Platform Trading Bay Production Faci lity Grayling Platform Monapod Platform II. Exhibit I Hob i I 0 i I Corporat ion Granite Point Gas Faci I ity Granite Point Field - AMOCO Production 12. AM OCO Exhibit Gas Flow Schematic - Platform Anna (G.P.) 13. A~10CO Exhibit 2 Gas Flow Schematic - Platform Bruce (G.P.) M.G.S. Point Field - AMOCO Production Co. 14. Ar,10CO Exhibit 3 Gas Flow Schematic - Platform Sa ke r (MGS) 15. Ar-.10CO Exhibit <1 Gas Flow Schematic - Platform Dellon Ot1G S ) M. G. S. Field She II 16. Exhibit I Simplified flow diagram :r .¡.~ PV I ) )) I ìN [NTOr\y C. o. /'114 Page 2 ARCO 17. Exhibit Locat ion IV1ap 18. Exhibit 2 King Salman Platform schematic diagram 19. [xh i bit 3 King Salmon Platform gas balance 20. Exhibit 4 King Salmon Platform burner tip Trading Bay Field, Atlantic Richfield Co. , Platform5 A and Spark platforfl'l 21 . ) 22. 23. 24. E xh i bit Exhibit 2 Exhibit 3 Exh i bit 4 Location Map Platform "AT! Schematic diagram Platform Spark Platforms "AI! & Spark Gas Balance ~f~/x' I - -Y?:;;- - ~~...,.::·c STATE OF ALASKA OEPARTtl.~ENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES DIVISION OF OIL AND GAS Alaska Oi I and Gas Conservation Committee 3001 Porcupine Drive Anchorage, Alaska 99504 Re: THE MOTION OF THE ALASKA OIL AND GAS CONSERVAT ION CQt\1M I TTEE to hold a hearing to determine the amount of gas necessary for safety flares on production platforms. Conservation Order No. 114 Granite Point Field Trading Bay Field McArthur River Field Middle Ground Shoal Field June 9, 1972 IT APPEARING THAT: I. The Alaska Oi I and Gas Conservation Committee published a notice of pub I ic hearing in the Anchorage Dai Iy News on Apri I 13, 1972, pursuant to Title I I, Alaska Administrative Code, Section 2009. 2. A public hearing was held on May 12, 1972 in the City Counci I Chambers of the Z. J. Loussac Library, 5th Avenue and F Street, Anchorage, Alaska, at which time operators of the production platforms in the referenced fields were heard. 3. Conservation Order Nos. 102-B, I03-A, I04-A, and I05-A restrict the amount of casinghead gas which may be flared from the oi I pools in the referenced fie I ds to the amount necessary for adequate safety f I ares, effective at 7:00 A.M., ADST, October 15, 1972, or such later date as provided in these orders. FINDINGS: I. Each of the thirteen oi I-producing platforms in the referenced fields produces different volumes of oi I, with varying gas-oi I ratios, and necessari Iy has different oi I and gas production and handling faci lities. Gas flare booms and burner tips vary in design and number, depending on volumes of oi I and gas produced, platform and equipment design and other factors. 2. Concentration of producing we I Is and equipment on platforms, necessari Iy enclosed because of weather conditions, requires adequate safety flares to avoid the risk of explosion and fire from hydrocarbon accumulation. 3. A safety flare is necessary at onshore production faci lities to avoid the risk of explosion and fire from hydrocarbon accumulation. 4. The minimum amount of gas necessary to keep a flare burning under operating conditions has not been determined, but operators estimated this amount based on limited experience. T+ # w.- 2..- ,.... ~ Conservation Order No. / /4 Page 2 June 9, 1972 CONCLUSIONS: I. Safety of personnel and property is the paramount consideration; therefore safety flares on each platform should be of an adequate size to handle both routine and unexpected gas and liquid volumes. 2. Continued survei I lance of casinghead gas uti lization and flared volumes from each platform and onshore faci lity is necessary. 3. Pending evidence to the contrary, the operator of each platform and onshore p I atforrn shou I d be a I lowed to f I are the vo I ume of gas he test if i ed as being necessary for safety, and gas so flared should not constitute ItJaste. 4. The Committee should require reports of casinghead gas uti lization by equipment on each platform and onshore faci lity as wel I as flared volumes, at frequent intervals. 5. The Committee should retain administrative authority to order an increase or decrease in the vo I ume of gas a I lowed to be flared for safety from each platform and onshore faci lity, as additional experience may indicate. NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED THAT: I. For each calendar month, the dai Iy average volume of casinghead gas perm i tted to ma i nta in a safety f I are or f I ares on Mobil platform in the Granite Point Field shal I be 1000 MCF per day. 2. For each calendar month, the dai Iy average volume of casinghead gas permitted to maintain a safety flare or flares on Anna platform in the Granite Point Field shal I be 700 MCF per day. 3. For each calendar month, the dai Iy average volume of casinghead gas permitted to maintain a safety flare or flares on Bruce platform in the Granite Point Field shal I be 700 MCF per day. 4. For each calendar month, the dai Iy average volume of casinghead gas permitted to maintain a safety flare or flares on Monopod platform in the Trading Bay Field shal I be 2000 MCF per day. 5. For each calendar month, the dai Iy average volume of casinghead gas permitted to maintain a safety flare or flares on !fAn platform in the Trading Bay Field shal I be 400 MCF per day. ó. For each calendar month, the dai Iy average volume of casinghead gas permitted to maintain a safety flare or flares on Spark platform in the Trading Bay Field shal I be 600 MCF per day. "--~ .~ Conservation Order No. 114 Page 3 June 9, 1972 7. For each calendar month, the dai Iy average volume of casinghead gas permitted to maintain a safety flare or flares on Grayling platform in the McArthur River Field shal I be 2000 MCF per day. 8. For each calendar month, the dai Iy average volume of casinghead gas permitted to maintain a safety flare or flares on King Salmon platform in the McArthur River Field shal I be 800 MCF per day. 9. For each calendar month, the dai Iy average volume of casinghead gas permitted to maintain a safety flare or flares on Dolly Varden platform in the McArthur River Field shal I be 1000 MCF per day. 10. For each calendar month, the dai Iy average volume of casinghead gas permitted to maintain a safety flare or flares on Baker platform in the Middle Ground Shoal Field shal I be 700 MCF per day. I I. For each calendar month, the dai Iy average volume of casinghead gas permitted to maintain a safety flare or flares on Di I Ion platform in the Middle Ground Shoal Field shal I be 700 MCF per day. 12. For each calendar month, the dai Iy average volume of casinghead gas permitted to maintain a safety flare or flares on HAl! platform in the Mi dd I e Ground Shoa I Fi e I d sha II be 700 MCF per day. 13. For each calendar month, the dai Iy average volume of casinghead gas pe rm i tted to ma i nta in a safety f I are or f I ares on IrCn platform in the Middle Ground Shoal Field shal I be 700 MCF per day. 14. For each ca~endar month, the dai Iy average volume of casinghead gas permitted to maintain a safety flare or flares at the West Foreland onshore production faci lities shal I be 300 MCF per day. 15. For each calendar month, the dai Iy average volume of casinghead gas permitted to maintain a safety flare or flares at the Granite Point onshore production faci lities shal I be 100 MCF per day. 16. For each calendar month, the dai Iy average volume of casinghead gas permitted to maintain a safety flare or flares at the East Foreland onshore production faci I ities operated by Shel I shal I be 100 MCF per day. 17. For each calendar month, the dai Iy average volume of casinghead gas permitted to maintain a safety flare or flares at the East Foreland onshore production faci lities operated by Amoco shal I be 100 MCF oer day. 18. ~·1onth Iy r'eports of gas production, on Form G-7 or 10-407, !!Producers Report of Gas Producti on ," sha II show va I urnes of gas disposed of in emer'gencies under the heading "Other Disposition (Detail)." "..... ~ Conservation Order No. 1/4 Page 4 June 9, 1972 19. Fol lowing ten (10) days notice to the operator of any platform or onshore rroduction faci lity in or serving the referenced fields, the Comm i ttee, may decrease or increase the vo I ume of gas a I lowed to be f la red for safety. DONE at Anchorage, Alaska and dated June 9, 1972. d¡( 1ft -4/t / Thomas R. Marshal I, Jr., Executive Secretary Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Committee Concurrence: §;þ. OIL ~ ..,7iÍi;¡ ~. lØ~~ ~ 1!' ~ ,~,,.,, ~. ~- '", ~ ~.1/.:J2;.::t/ ~L v"\ ~'(¡I --------Qit'.~~· ~~''i:ffi¡ ~.."'.;I¡ ~"b ,'. ,-;~. -. ':./>". '{l ~¡;t/J:::-¿;: :,..~m. .... j~"'.' "oj. _.. . ·/r..:~.ÍI:.":¥'_~ ·~"'"t~¡1:t ,_ L.:.,S ".;;~.- 'íJ 'E.',i,«,';..',.....\..~', \. ,",,,:.,.:.,:.'11.: , \ ¡, - - '/ ~. '\' \'.J; . e~I-~~~~~.~" 1.'~'J'/~~t <:'o~ þ -, ..,<:. ." ~ --'... . r :' ; \:~~ <5'» ~.., ~o/ ~ ~/ON CO~~ /~4~~ Homer L. Burrell, ~Chairman Alaska Oi I and Gas Conservation Committee' ------- - February 26, 1988 Telecopy No. (907) 276-7542 ADM I N 1ST RAT I V E A P PRO V A L N o. 114.5 ',. ~ ..,... - ., L ..... ..~, Re: Safety flare volume, Dolly Varden platform, ï-'lcArthur River Field John Beitia Operations Superintendent Unocal Corporation POBox 190247 Anchorage, AK 99519-0247 Dear Mr Beitia: \ Since December of 1987 the Dolly Varden platform in Cook Inlet has been experiencing problems with flare volumes in excess of the allowable safety flare set by Conservation Order (CO) 114, item 9. Extensions beyond the 15 day excess flare a.llowable set by CO 120, Rule 2, have been issued for the last quarter of 1987 and first quarter of 1988. . On February 25, 1988 the Commission met with representatives of lVIarathon Oil Company. The current flaring situation on the Dolly Varden was discussed. Efforts to identify and alleviate the . problems were also discussed. Per item 19 of Conservation Order 114, the Co~nission hereby amends item 9 to read: For each calendar month, a daily average volume of produced gas permitted to maintain a safety flare or flares on Dolly Varden platform in the McArthur River Field shall be 2500 MCF [1000 MCF] per day. This amen.dment is subject to change upon periodic review of the situation on the Dolly Varden platform. '-·---~1 Sincerely, _¡/... // A , '{:;J</ ' I ¡j/n'1".'VA (; \:J~~::tt Lonnie C Smith Commissioner jo/3.AAl14 -= Telecopy No. (907) 276-7542 July 14, 1987 ADM I N 1ST RAT I V E A P PRO V A L N o. 114.4 Re: Establishment of ßafety flare, Steelhead Platform, McArthur River Field, Trading Bay Unit. G. A. Graham District Operations Manager Alaska District Unocal Corporation P. O. Box 190247 Anchorage, AK 99519-0247 Dear Mr. Graham: By letter dated July 7, 1987 you requested, on behalf ofUnocal, the establishment of an allowable flare volume for the Steelhead Platform. The Steelhead Platform will be used to develop the McArthur River Middle Kenai Gas Pool, the Tyonek G-Zone Oil Pool, and the West Foreland Oil Pool in the Trading Bay Unit. The Commission hereby approves, for each calendar month, the daily average volume of gas permitted to maintain a safety flare or flares on the Steelhead Platform in the McArthur River Field shall be 1000MCF per day. All gas flared shall be metered and reported monthly on the Producer's Report of Gas Disposition (Form 10-422). S i~cerely :' [) \ _-1 '- f: I' \. -r) , l-- -,-- ,- {' . '~~-\,-,,----.A/L. ---./ { -.... -.......J Lonnie C. Smith Commissioner jo/3.AA114 BY ORDER OF THE COMMISSION be:l.AA 114 Yours very truly, :::: 7K~/:!J~ Commissioner Your application, dated December 17, 1984, requesting a flare limit exception for Platform Anna for the period of January 15, 1985 to September 15, 1985 has been received by the Commission. The application indicates that the same problems exist that were presented in your June 14, 1984 application but that with the installation of a compressor, Union Oil Company of California may be able to purchase the excess gas and put i~ into the Cook Inlet Gas System. It is stated that negotiations are underway to sign a contract to sell the excess gas. The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has reviewed the data available and finds that, at this time, the flaring of excess gas on Platform Anna is an operational necessity. By this letter, Amoco Production Company is hereby permitted to flare all gas not beneficially used on Platfiom Anna from January 15, 1985 until September 15, 1985. Amoco Production Company representatives will meet with the Commission on September 4, 1985 to present the data pertinent to the disposal of the excess gas. ' Hr. t~. G . Srot t h District Manager Amoco Production Company P. O. Box 100779 Anchorage, Alaska 99510-0779 Dear Mr. Smith: Re: The application of M{OCO PRODUCTION COMPA~1Y to flare gas in a quantity that exceeds the current permitted volume at Platform Anna, Granite Point Field. t10. 114.3. APPROVAL ADM I N 1ST RAT I V E December 27, 1984 J June 19, 1984 ADM I N 1ST R A ~ ~cY ~r-A~? P, R 0 ~.~ L NO. 114.2 -- ~- Re: The application of Atl0CO PRODUCTION COt1FAl~ to flare gas in a quantity that exceeds the current permitted volume at Platfornl Anna, Granite Point Field. Hr. W. G. Smith District Manager Amoco Production Company P. O. Box 100779 Anchorage, Alaska 99510-0779 Dear I1r: Smith: Your application was received on June 18, 1984 requesting approval to flare gas in excess of the 700 l1CFPD safety flare volume due to the continued failure of the Granite Point gas pipeline. It was indicated that pipeline repair costs were such th~t the repair costs could not be recovered in five years and that there is no a.ssurance tha.t the repair of tbe four known leaks would preclude the presence of other leaks in the pipeline. It was also indicated that other options for the disposition of the gas are being considered. The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has carefully reviewed the data available and finds that the flaring of gas on Platform Anna is an operational necessity. By this letter, Amoco Production Company 1shereby permitted tó flare all gas not beneficially used on Platform Anna from July IS, 1984 until January 15t 1985 with the provision that Amoco Production Company representatives meet with the Commission at 9:00 am, December 12, 1984 to present the method or methods that will be used to save the gas. Yours very truly, -/ / 'J /J 'Ho-r-rl tJ /[;;-¡-tLí Harry W. Kugler Commissioner ì , ! r BY ORDER OF THE COMMISSION Ie be BY THE ORDER OF THE COMMISSION Yours very truly, h ; <, ,..." 0- ,/,/1 .' I ;'/'-_. / ; //' . ./ ¡'.;/' /'~! I ·..f ,J V'" Harry U. Kugler Commiss:f.oner The Alaska 011 and Gas Conservation Commission has carefully reviewed the data available and finds that the flaring of - excess gas on Platform Anna Is an operational necessity. By th1.s letter, Amoco Production ComJ)any is hereby permitted to flare all gas not beneficially used on Platform Anna from January 15, 1984 until July 15, 1984 with the provision that Amoco Production Company representatives meet with the Commission at 9:30 AM June 13, 1984 to present the method or methods they will use to save the gas after July 15t 1984. Your application was received on December 28, 1984 requesting approval to flare gas in excess of the 700 MCFPD safety flare volume due to the failure of the Granite Point gas pipeline. It was indicated that pipeline repairs are not practical in the wtnt~r due to ice conditions in Cook Inlet and t1ü~t other alternatives are under consideration. Mr. Warren Nielsen District Superintendent Amoco Production Company P. O. Box 100779 Anchorage, Alaska 99510 Dear Mr. Nielsen: ADM I N 1ST RAT I V E A P PRO V A L NO. ~11~J:~ ., _ _ "11""'-':-_ ~_... _y......- rt )1__- ~_ ...;~.-. ~ _~#' _~._ ..... ~_ ._~ ,----~ ~_-J_~_-:-::._~T.:_ -<' .__..t';tr"""'\-_ _-~-~_""........~_ :i"""'" Re: The appli.ca,tion of AMOCO PRODUCTIO!t COMPAttY to fltlre gas in a quantity that exceeds the current permitted volume at Platform Anna. Granite Point Field. January 5, 1984 -~ #5 ~' '~ » .-.T.-. AMOCO .I~ Amoco Production Company Post Office Box 100779 Anchorage. Alaska 99510 907-272-8471 W. G. Smith District Manager September 9, 1985 Mr. C.V. Chatterton, Chairman Alaska Oil and Gas Commission 3001 Porcupine Drive Anchorage, Alaska 99501 File: TJZ-318-383.3 Dear Sir: Flare Limit Exception Order, Platform Anna Reference: Administrative Approval No. 114.3 We understand that our flare limit exception for Platform Anna expires September 15, 1985. As discussed in the meeting between the AOGCC Commi- ssioners and Bryan Dotson on September 5, an extension is not needed since Anna I s fl are has been 1 ess than 700 MCFD for the 1 ast seven months. Please refer to the attachment for flare volumes for 1985. Furthermore, we expect Union to complete installation of their compressor at Granite Point within the next two months. After commissioning, this compressor will allow sale of excess gas from Anna and Bruce. Thank you for your previous attention to our flare limit exception. Please address any questions to Tom Zimmer at 272-8471. ;¡;2Z¿ W.G. Smith District Manager BDD/dds Attachment RtCt\\}tD St.? 11 \,~ . comm\SS\on . &. GaS cons. A.\as\<..a. 0\\ þ.\,\cno{age (jCL ~ L .r- ~ ~ @ S ~ ß 1i[ ~ ~ ~ ~ .~ ! ....\ ~ I - I I I" ., , FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL I I I - I OCT NOV DEC JAN ~s ( '~ f Platform Anna Daily Flare Gas Volume , , jrk::~;:,<: . >.\(~~>\.'~.:. ' ~ ~ ~ g (fl f<!O rn )I> Ci' "'0 gg; ~ - go ~ <. "'"'0 ~ ~I~ ~ r-n <Ð. ~ ........, (') Cf'\ .........., o :3 ê.. (J) E'· :::;I ~ rn (l rn /\ o 100- 200- 300- ~ CJ") > c """"'" ~ 400- U ~ ðOO- 600- 700- 800 #4 ~ ~ II!L~~'.".. fKLÇ,ÖMM' ~COMM ' I .,-, ~ »1 RES ENG J=-!~J . E~iJ 43 .: .f?í[2 '[.f'oI.G : ~~ ,,'~--~ i{~di·,i <,'~~ ;,,: (l! ""·,'Jb . trCi 1 C~EGt~ r~-! 2 ~~~: I.·.....,:;;,:, ~ ;~¿J =-__1 , CONÆR: ~-._._~--_.-._-_.__.~--,-~~~~--:>-~-, " - ~.. ,. .T~ AMOCO ~I" Amoco Production Company W. G. Smith ' District Manager Post Office Box 100779 Anchorage, Alaska 99510 i 907 -272-8471 ¡) ./ /1 n 1 ()// I' {,'j./ (? J ~ r-:. J ~/~ I L '2. '.'. . ,_-// >/ (fA ,iL:>':'-' December 17, 1984 File: TJZ-208-383.3 Mr. C. V. Chatterton, Chairman Alaska Oil and Gas Commission 3001 Porcupine Drive Anchorage, Alaska 99501 Dear Sir: Flare Limit Exception Request, Platform Anna Reference: Administrative Approval No. 114.2 Please extend our flare limit exception for Platform Anna from the current January 15, 1985 deadline to September 15, 1985. As discussed in the meeting between the AOGCC Commissioners and Bryan Dotson of this office on December 12, 1984, we are making progress in our efforts to obtain an outlet for Platform Anna's excess gas. In addition, Platform Anna has not exceeded the flare limit in four of the past 12 months. The deadline extension will allow Amoco to flare gas in excess of 700 MCFD on Platform Anna on occasion until a sales connection can be made. As you are aware, several leaks were found in November, 1983 in our gas line from Anna to East Forelands. The economics of repairing the line or installing a compressor at our own expense at Granite Point are prohibi- tive, as we pointed out in our letter of June 14, 1984. The best prospect for a sales outlet is the installation, by Union, of a compressor at Granite Point to boost the gas into their Cook Inlet Gas System (CIGS). We understand that Union is planning to install a compressor during the summer of 1985 to handle gas from their own Granite Point platform, as well as our Anna and Bruce platforms. Currently, we are preparing a revision to our existing sales contract with Union providing for gas delivery at Granite Point. We expect to sign the revision in the first quarter of 1985. Please note that, recently, we have been flaring somewhat more than the 700 MCFD limit some months and somewhat less than the limit other months. Included as Attachment One is a plot of Anna's flare gas rates for the past twelve months. RECEIVED DEC 2 it 84 Alaska au & Gas Cons. CommiSSÎon A__L.._____ · .. -- ~- Mr. C. V. Chatterton, Chairman TJZ-208-383.3 December 17, 1984 Page 2 To summarize, we are flaring roughly 700 MCFD off Platform Anna, exceeding the limit on occasion. We expect to have a sales outlet next summer when Union installs a compressor at Granite Point. At that time, flare volumes will be reduced significantly. Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the disposition of our Granite Point gas. Please contact Tom Zimmer at 272-8471 if you have any questions. -------- - ~-- ----.-- -~-.~--'------ Very truly yours, --;7-- . <' /' ///;; 'êÁ ,f" /-. ,/ v... G-;~~ /,/- ,/7 . -"If' /- ¿' ¿ t//7.:ß ~.~£. . W. G. Smith District Manager Attachment BDD/dds RECEIVED DEC 24 _ AlaSka Oii &: Gas Cons. 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I . . _....._....__....L_......._..__~.._..._......___..__..__..............__.._.............__.............._......_....__"-___............................__........_............_......___..........__......_...... · I I I I I' . I I , I 1000- - - - -.. - - - - r" -. - -. - - -;. - - - - - - - - r - -. - -. - -. r - - - - - - - - - r - - -, - - - - - r - - -, - - - - - ~ -. -. -. - - - r" - - - - - - - - ~ - - -.. - - - - - r" -.. - - - - - - r" -...... - - -- - I. . , I , I I , I " , I I I I · I I I I I I - .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. '11]~1111- ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. ... .. ... .. .. .. .. - -.......................... ... .. ... ... .. .. .. .. - .. ... ... .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. - .. .. - - .. .. - - I ... : : I I :: I -1------___:______ I ______"_________,____ ., . I . , , , I · . I . I I I I - - . - - - - - - - r .. - - - - J - - .. r .. - - - - - - - - r - .. - - - - - " - r - - - - - - - - . r - - - - - - - - - r - - - - - - - - - r . - - - - - r - - - - I' . - - - - - - - .. . I I I I . , , , , , I t I . I 6 0 0 ~ - - - .. . . - - .. : - - - / - - - - - : - - - - - »".,,:~: - - . - - - - - - : - - - - - - - - - : - - - - - - - - - :" " " - " - ,,- I -.. - .. .. - - - " ~ - . - - - . - - - ; .. - ~ - - - - i " ' M",t. St.1 1Pl Me. ¡:D , 800- -- -- - - - -- ~ - - - -- -- ~ ~ (.) :s " .. ~ Cd "-' 1400 ATTACHMENT ONE Platform Anna Daily Flare Gas Volume #3 ~,.... ~ '¡' //, , r/I' ~I I ' ~"r¡ f. /1æv. ,'.f' ~ ~O;>MM_ : l?TCO:'i\M.,-~ · 'i CO!>.A.f«/C-:"õ ,_t~ RES '~:¡-J~ , \ 1 Et If" .,é./ : _'''l\J~ Amoco Production compan'1Ê' 2 F ~:~ -Ä- Post Office Box 100779 ¡It, I 3 "_ Anchorage, Alaska 99510 '.. ,- ~~; 907 -272-8471 I I ì '-:<:X.- 1i2c¿t[ I ... - ,. . " I~"'TT~ I ST ,TTEC " -r -- CONf;:R: AlF: - '~ -- l~ ~T& AMOCO .,-" W. G. Smith District Manager File: TJZ-048-383.3 tfv (lP' !~/~ J'~ ./ -,-/- ",,""'-- June 14, 1984 Mr. C. V. Chatterton, Chairman Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission 3001 Porcupine Drive Anchorage, Alaska 99501 Dear Sir: ~~'Îe Flare Exception Request, Platform Anna Please extend our flare\exception request for Platform Anna from our current July 15, 1984, ~eadline to January 15, 1985, to allow Amoco to continue gas connect ion I negotiations with Union. This extension was _~-..L... discussed during the~ 13, 1984, meeting between the AOGCC Commissioners and Tom Zimmer of this office. The deadline extension will allow Amoco to flare gas in excess of our allowable 700 MCFD on Platform Anna from time to time while the disposition of excess produced gas is determined since our AnnajEFDF pipeline is shut-in. The following discussion summarizes Amoco's position on Platform Anna's produced gas as was detailed by Tom Zimmer: The current 7¢jMCF gas contract with Unions does not generate economic cash flows to repair the AnnajEFDF pipeline. The pipeline was inspected during the week of November 20, 1983, and found to have four leaks at field welds in an area just east of our Platform Baker. The engineering estimate to set the break areas on pedestals, remove the cement sheaths from the weld area and install repair sleeves is conservatively $250,000. Assuming a five-year project life, the repair would still be $98,000 in the red after five years. More importantly, the diving during the leak identification showed lower volumes at each progressive leak (less available pressure) further away from Platform Anna. Amoco's conclusion is that even if the four identified leaks were repaired, additional problem areas closer to EFDF are likely. \ RECEIVED JUN 1 81984 Alaska Oil & Gas Cons. Commission Anchorage '- ~ Mr. C. V. Chatterton TJZ-049-383.3 June 14, 1984 Page 2 A similar cash flow analysis was presented for a $700,000 compressor installation. Again, at 7¢/MCF the project is' $342,000 in the red at the end of a ten-year project life. The cash flow analysis for the pipeline repair and compressor installation are attached. The compressor option could be economic if a reasonable gas price or operating agreement is negotiated. Again, Amoco is pursuing this option and initial repsonse from Union is favorable. The timing to justify our six-month extension is also attached. Finally, the result of restricting production by limiting the flare was reviewed. For every 100 MCFD of gas shut-in, at a GOR of 485, the total State royalty, severence and ad valorem tax loss is $890/day (loss of 210 BOPD). This analysis is also attached. In summary, Amoco is pursuing a gas connection for our Granite Point excess gas and will advise you of our negotiation progress. The flare limitation exception will permit Amoco to maximize current production, ultimate recovery and state royalty and tax payments. Amoco's position is that the conservation of gas will not be achieved by restricting the flare now since the same volume of gas will ultimately bý-flared over the life of the project. Thank you for the opportunity to discuss our Granite Point gas disposition. Please contact Tom Zimmer if you have any questions. Very truly yours, d/Æ~~d' W. G. Smi th District Manager Attachments TJZ/dds RECEIVED JUN 1 81984 Alaska Oil & Gas C. r'f1S Comml's' Vi, , slon Anohora;Jö /. ) ) PIPELINE REPAIR ANALYSIS ASSU~'lPT IONS: 1. Pipeline repair will extend life of pipeline five years. This is optimistic since the Anna-EFDF pipeline has suffered many failures in the past. 2. 1.0 MMSCFD declining 10 percent per year. 3. Straight line amortization of repair costs. . 4. Fi fty percent (50%) Federa 1 Tax . 5. Zero percent (0%) Interest Rate. 6. Ten thousand dollars ($10,OOO/yr) operating cost. 7. Seven cents ($.07/MCF) gas sales þrice, no royalty, no severance tax. ANNUAL G,AS PRODUCTION REVENUE AT '"ANNUAL AMORTIZED NET REVENUE'AFTER YEAR MCF $.07/MCF OPERATING COST REPAIR COST FEDERAL TAX , 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 365,0.00 $25,550 '~$10,000 -$50,000 -$17,225 328,500 22,295 - 10,000 - ,50,000 - 18,852 295,650 '20,695 -'10,000 ..,. 50,000 - 19,652 266,085 18,6'26 - 10,000 - 50,000 ~ '20:, 687 : 239,476 16,763 - 10,000 ... 50,000 - 21,618' Total Net Rè.venue (Loss) ($98,034')' Even under favorable assumptions, pipeline cannot berepa'ired econo~icðlly under current gas contract. RECEIVED JUN 1 e 1984 Al,aska Oil & GaG C,i:':~ C'11n¡ssiçn Ar¡"::['J", /_~A' ) ) COMPRESSOR INSTALLATION ANALYSIS ASSUMPTIONS: 1. Ten year compressor life, $700,000 to install. 2. 1.0 MMSCFD declining at 10%/year. 3. Straight-line amortization of compressor. 4. 50% Federal tax 5. 0% interest rate 6. $15.000/year operating cost', 7. $O.07/MCF gas sales pr5ce, no royalty, no'severance tax .' .,. AtlNUAL CA$ ANNUAL ' , ,AMORTIzro PRODUCTIOH REVENUE AT . OPERATING COMPRESSOR NET REVENUE YEAR MCF $0.07 /è~F " ~.O_S_T_ _~ COST AFTERTAX - . w _ _ _ ..... .._. - - " - - - . 1984 355,000 $25,550 -$15,000 ~$70, 000·, ~$29,725 1985 328,500 ,22,295 - 15 Þ 000 ' - ,70~OOO - 31,352 1986 295,650 20,695' - 15~OOO,' - 70,000 ' -32, 152 1987 266,085, 18.626 ~, 15, 000 , - '70,000 '- 33,187 1988 239,476 16,.763 -, 15,000 ' - 70 _ 000, - '34 'I 118 1989 215,528 15,087 - 15,000 - 70,000 ~34,956 1990 193,976 13, 578 . - 15,000 -',70,000 -:- 35, 711 1991 174,578 12,220 15,000 - 70,000 - 36,390 1992 157,120 10,998 - 15,000 - 70,000 - 37,001 1993 14 1, 408 9i898 - 15,000 - 70,000 -37,551 Total Net Revenue (Loss) (S 342, 145) RECEIVED JUN 1 81984 Alaska Oil, & _ ßaß, COfU)! CQmm.lS!tOlt _ Anchorage I "'r !,j ~ ') RESULTS OF RESTRICTING GAS FLARE/OIL PRODUCTION PLATFORM ANNA Oil Production Loss/laD MCFO gas shut ih: 100 [v1CFO = 485 GOR (5-84) 210 BOPO State Revenue Loss/IOO MCFO gas shut in: State Royalty = 210 BOPO x $3.25/BBL = $680/0ay State Severance and Ad Valorem Taxes = 210 s~po x $l/BBL = $210/day Total Loss = $890/day NOTE: Conservation of gas will not be achieved because the same volume of gas will be flared over the ,life of the project. .' R E eEl V ED JUN 1 e 1984 Alaska Oil & Gas Cons. Commission Anchorage Gran~te Poir~tGas D,ispo'sitiori , , Negoc!ùte w/Union Orden - Co n~ D re 5 ~ 0 r & -Comprouor Sales Contract If Economical Co'mprassor Delivery , Install Compressor ~ c:: C1> '(¡i CA 'Ë 0 E· oct co u..J cO Q > en ~ w .-t 0 C'~ q) rn u ~ 0 LW ~ cn-C ro Co;) L), Z C,!;t:: ~ u.J => cð --, æ ë3 m .::..:: (/) en < . " ~. . - . -~ I ~Aay I Jun I JU! I ^ " ,....ug I ,...' , ~ep I Oct I Nov. I Dee Jan Feb 1500- . ' " . U 1000- - 0 E " install gas driven .- 6 l~ 6 ß 1\, ~ generator (200 mcfd) Q ~ Q ,700 mcfô Uf!\it ~ 6 ð. ð. ro 6 6 LL 500-' 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Legend ð. ANNA 0 BRUCE ,- , .' 0 I I May Jun Jui Aug Sep Oct Nov Dee Jan Feb ..,...4_~ 1- '984 1965 #2 ...~ .,-- M MARATHON t MARATHON OIL COMPANY PRODUCTION-UNITED STATES AND CANADA ANCHORAGE DIVISION -- I P.O. SOX 23S0 I DIR Þ ANCHORAGE, AI rSKA .51. _.9-' .' C. GtOL ~, le'pENG .I~' Hay 19, 1972 . I '!'_ENG,~ I~~_E¡~G.~ I 3 ENS I i ~ ~~~..~ -I-,J>GEOL I r:' WI!' i- GEOL I L- ~ ~-_. - \{ I 3 GE,?~ I REV I, I DRAFT I I SE-t l CONFER: FlLE:(,O/1 t.( P¡,L/,\ ~ ,/-L Attached are four copies of Exhibit 1. TŸI0 are for the Mr. O. K. Gilbreth Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation committee 3001 Porcupine Drive Anchorage, Alaska Attention: Gentlemen: Safety pilot Hearing, Dolly Varden Platform, and two are for the Safety Pilot Hearing, Trading Bay Production Facility. Yours very truly, i!~r~ JRB:dp Attachments l0J~OWlœ~\ ~ W ~ ' !j fIAV/) Jt ~'i}ì f CJ 2 1972 ~ DIV/SION OF OIL ,,"'.1 ANt> 01~- P"II~Q.fQ~OH '''s', , EXHIBIT 1 u SUBMARINE TRENCH C. o. I' <..( 0 f.( I ( ~ f i ( ll.- ) \ SCALE: 1": 4000' EXISTING PIPELINES COMPLETED GAS GATHERING SYSTEM PIPELINES UNDER CONSTRUCTION LEX PLANT - COMPRESSOR STATION SAND & GRAVEL DUNES < 10' " " "> 10 ' (-) COLLIER CARBON 6 CHEMICAL CO, ~ ~ ~ ~ ( ;/ W£ST FOR£LANO -¡ ,- . MARATHON - UNION GAS GATHERING SYSTEM / .... ~ N / o~ IDN '" i. 2-8" . AMOCO 'D' ~ POINT 1-VIl',>- ~~o} /1 \.~ ~~ \ ~ -'--'- GRANITE PT - PROD~ION' fÄCILlTY ./"'" , " ~~;' LCO '\ , q, \ cÍ, \//5 AJ04OCO \ "A' , . \ 0- C / /-/'4--; /___ C\~ ,0/--150/ / ,/\ ~~ ,./ '\- \ .-/' / _ (_Y" /---- / \_-" ) _--- I r ------...'\ IV /./\ -- \\. / \/ ' ) -----~ \ -_ __1'1, I \ / //"'"1/) ___ I ./ f} ~ì ' .{/J .0 ~ r-/! / ! V/" ./ ( I /' ) I ./ ' A : / . UNION "MONOPOD" .....~~II~ . / J: t- o:: o z LO. II~ o ft, ~ ~ .(., I..... \ /' . ---' #1 ./ R Be R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 5 277-4713 ANCHORAGE,ALASKA 99~OI ~1 25 24 23 ) 22 21 20 19 18 17 THOMAS R. MARSHALL, Member and Executive Secretary 16 O. K. GILBRETH, JR., Member .. HOMER BURRELL, Chairman 15 14 APPEARANCES: 13 },I 12 11 10 9 8 May 12, 1972 7 HEARING ON CONSERVATION FILE NO. 114 6 5 TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS 4 3 OIL AND GAS CONSERVATION COMMITTEE 2 ) BEFORE THE STATE OF ALASKA DIVISION OF OIL AND GAS 1 ) ') R 8c R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 5 277·4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA g9501 ADDENDA: ~ rt' Ct" t (,...o J, ,TESTIMONY OF R. C. KELLER RE. GRAYLING PLATFORM TESTIMONY OF R. C. KELLER RE. MONOPOD PLATFORM TESTIMONY OF B. C. ANDERSON RE. PLATFORM 'A' AND SPARK TESTIMONY OF MAX BEAZLEY RE. GRANITE POINT SHORESITE PAGE NO. S 26 51 78 90 107 III 113 119 A. O. P. CASPARIAN MILLARD OWENS, &~OCO PRODUCTION COMPANY BART GILES, AMOCO PRODUCTION COMPANY MILLARD OWENS, AMOCO PRODUCTION COMPANY MAX BEAZLEY, MOBIL OIL CORPORATION JOHN. R. BARBER, MARATHON OIL COMPANY B. C. ANDERSON, ATLANTIC RICHFIELD COMPANY 'R. C. KELLER, UNION OIL COMPANY JOHN R. BARBER, MARATHON OIL COMPANY 1 WITNESS TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 2 ) ') ~,1 25 24 23 ) 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 ) 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 ) ) 10 11 12 ) 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 , 24 25 ....... 1 ) Page 3 ) 1 PRO C EE DIN G S 2 MR. BURRELL: Good morning, ladies and 3 gentlemen. This is a hearing of the Alaska oil and Gas Conser- 4 vation Committee. My name is Homer Burrell; I'm Chairman. To 5 my right is Mr.,O. K. Gilbreth, Jr., member of the Committee; to my left is Mr. Thomas R. Marshall, Jr. who's a member of the 6 7 Committee and Executive Secretary of the Committee. I'll read 8 the notice of this hearing. Notice of Ptiblic Hearing, Alaska 9 Oil & Gas Conservation Committee, Conservation File; No. 114, Subject: Granite Point Field, Trading Bay Field, McArthur River Field, and Middleground Shoal Field. . The Alaska Oil & Gas Conservation Committee will holding a hearing pursuant to Title XI, Alaska Administrative Code, Section 2Q09, to consider the amount of gas necessary for'adequate safety flares on pro- duction platforms in the referenced fields'as required in Conservation Orders No.. 102, 103, 104, and 105. The hearing will be held at 9:00 o'clock a.m. May 12, 1972 in the City Council Chambers of the Z. J. Loussac Library, Fifth Avenue and F Street, Anchorage, Alaska, at which time operators of the oil pools within the referenced fields and affected and interested parties will be heard. Signed by Thomas R. Marshall, Jr., Executive Secretary, published in the Anchorage Daily News on April 13, 1972. Mr. Marshall will swear any witnesses; those who have not previously qualified as experts will be requested to do 50. R '& R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE S 277·4713 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 99501 1 ) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 ) 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 ~1 ) Page 4 ) MR. ANDERSON: Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee. My name is Robert H. Anderson, Attorney for Marathon Oil Company, at Anchorage. As you have just recited, the Corn- mittee's notice of hearing has stated the purpose to bs to consid,sr the amount of gas necessary for adequate safety flares, and though the notice does not so state, we believe this tarm could be changed or also referred to as a safety pilot for the platforms for the four ailfields in Cook Inlet, as required by the Conservation Orders 102 through 105. MR. BURRELL: All right, Mr. Anderson, we have no objection to your change in the terminology, and we would expand the hearing unless there's obj'8ction to inclucla safety pilots at any other location in connection with the oil , production from the, referenced oil pools. HR. ANDERSON: There would be no objection. MR. BURRELL: If anybody doss at anyt.ime in the context of the testimony, they may feel free to do so since we did not expand the Order to include the onshore pro- duction facilitiss or other locations where ~h$re ara flares. I might also point out we have U.s. G~ological Survey repra- sentativas here today, and they are frse to ask questions at anytime and will b2 invited to do so as they have a concern in this matter not only in Alaska .but in other areas in which th3Y have the regulatory responsibility. MR. .ANDERSON: Proceeding on then, for R 8c R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !I 277-4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA gg~ot ') ) ,) ( , ~1 ') Page 5 ) 1 convenience and orderly presentation, since the notics does 2 specify platforms, we will present a witness for the operators 3 for eachµatform. I'll introduce the witnesses for the McArthur 4 River Field, the Trading Bay Field, and the Trading Bay Field 5 Northeast oil Pools. Perhaps it's appropriate at this point to 6 briefly outline a summary of the presentations and request that 7 this order of presentation be approved by the Committee. 8 Referring to the map that was ussd yesterday which shows 9 the platforms, Mr. Ed MacFarland will point out the platforms, 10 11 we'll start with the Dolly Varden platform, Harathon Oil Company operators, Hr. John R. Barber. We will then proceed to the Grayling platform, Hr. R. E. Keller of Union Oil COr.lpany, 12 13 operators of Grayling. Then in order to complete Mr. Keller's 14 , testimony, we will skip to the Monopod platform of the Trading 15 Bay Field, and then we'll come back to the King Salmon platform, 16 McArthur River Field, with Mr. B. C. Anderson of Atlantic 17 Richfield Company t·estifying. Mr. Anderson will also then testify with respect to the Platform A and the Platform Spark. 18 19 And in view of the change hars on the onshore designation, we 20 will then re-pres8nt Mr. Barber at that time concerning the 21 safety pilot at the Trading Bay Production Facility since four 22 of thoss platforms do go into the Trading Bay Production Facility. 23 After that then we will go to th.e Mobil Number One platform, 24 and Mr. M. E. Beazley of Mobil Oil Corporation will testify, and 25 at that time Mr. Rish Thornton and Mr. ~i. R. Harrison, Attorneys R Be R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 5 277.4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99~OI ) ) ) . Page 6 ), 1 for Mobil Oil Corporation, will take over with respect to the Mobil platform. After that time we will then go over to the 2 3 Anna and ,Bruce platforms, Granite Point Field, and Mr. M. E. \ 4 Owens of AMOCO Production Company will testify, and Mr. Ralph G. 5 Crews, Attorney for AMOCO, will present Mr. Ownens. In order 6 to complete his testimony then we will go on down to the Middle- ground Shoal Field and the Dillon and Baker platforms that will .':")1 . 7 8 be testified to with respect to Mr. Owens. And than finally the 9 Shell A and Shell C platforms in the Middleground Shoal Field 10 will ba completed by testimony with from Mr. A. O~ P. 11 Casparian of Shell Oil Company, and Mr. Joseph Rudd, Attorney 12 for Shell Oil Company will present Mr. Casparian. 13 These witnesses will generally explain and give a das- 14 cription of the gas handling process facilities and concarning '15 the size of an adequate safety pilot. Does this order of pra- 16 sentation meet with the committee's approval? 17 MR. BURRELL: No objaction at all, Mr. 18 And'erson. 19 MR. MARSHALL: I have one small question 20 here. You referred to the facility on West Foreland as the 21 Trading Bay Production Facili~y. I noticed yesterday this was 22 r~fsrred to as the West Foreland Facility. We should cl~rify ) 23 what we're going to call it for .the purposes of the hearing here. 24 MR. ANDERSON: Well, since we've used the 25 phrase West Foralands yssterday, then we will use the sam9 here, R 8: R COURT REPORTERS .as WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE S 277-4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA Q9~OI ~1 ) 10 11 12 ) 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 ) 23 24 25 ~1 ) ) Page 7 1 the 'vest Foreland Production Facility, although it is also known 2 as the Trading Bay Production Facility. That way we won't havs 3 '(unintelligible.) 4 MR. BURRELL: For the purposa of clarificatio~, 5 ths ~';¡est Foreland or Trading Bay 6 MR. ANDERSON: All right, fine. 7 ,HR. BURRELL: --- since it serves both th:e 8 Trad~ng Bay,Field and the 11cArthur River Field or Trading Bay, 9 is that corrsct? MR. ANDERSON: That's correct. MR.. CRE\vS (?): I'll give you an affidavit of idantity,!Hr. Commissioner. They're onß in tHe same. MR. BURRELL: You're qualified as an expert. MR. ANDERSON: FOllowing the procedure that was established yesterdaý and' for convenience, we request that all the witnssses which I've just nam'ed be s~vorn in at once at this time,'if that's satisfactory. MR. BURRELL: It is. MR. ANDERSON: All right, would Mr. Bob --- MR. CRENS: Bob, just a minute. In addition to Hr. Owens for MI0CO, Hr. Bart Giles \..,i1l also testify. HR. BURRELL: Thank you. MR. ANDERSON: All right, Mr. Barber, Hr. Keller, Mr. Anderson, Mr. Beazley, Mr. Casparian, Mr. Giles. I think that covers evaryone. R Be R COURT REPORTERS 82.5 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE S 277.4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99~OI 1 ) ,2 3 4 ·5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 ) 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 .ì 23 24 25 ~1 ) Page 8 ) MR. BURRELL: Mr. Marshall, would you swear the witnesses. MR. MARSHALL: Please raise your right hands. In the matter now appearing, do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God. (Witnesses'answer in the affirmative.) MR. ANDERSON: We will now call our first witness, Mr. J. R. Barber, Marathon Oil Company, operator of the Dolly Varden platform. Mr. Barber has not been qualified or testified before this Committee before, and I'll ask Mr. Barber to state his qualifications for acceptance by the Comrnitbee. MR. BARBER: My name is John Barber. I graduated from Texas A & I University in 1954 with a B.S. degree in PetroletL'1\ Engineering. I joined Marathqn Oil Company that same year. I worked in various fields and New 'capacities inA1exico, West Texas, advancing to Area Engineer in 1963. In 1967 I was transferred to the Los Angeles Division Engineering Staff. Early in 1968 I was transferred to Anchorage, Alaska as Area Production Superintendent and have served in this capacity since that time. MR. BURRELL: Without obj ~ction, w,e' 11 accept Mr. Barber's qualifications. MR. BARBER: Marathon Oil Company is a suboperator in the 'McArthur, River Field, Trading Bay unit. As R Be R COURT REPORTERS 8211 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !S 277.4713 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 99501 ) ,3 ) ) ~1 ) P age 9 ) 1 a suboperator, Marathon's responsibilities include the operation 2 of the Dolly Varden platform. As indicated on my exhibit #1, which is 'the Pipeline Exhibit #2 from yesterday's testimony, 4 the Dolly Varden platform is the southernmost platform in the McArthur River Field. 5 6 The primary operations on this platform include oil and 7 gas production, gas compress'ion, and water injection. Currently, the oil production rate is in excess of 44,000 barrels per day. 8 9 This oil is being produced from an average vertical depth of approximately 9500 feet, utilizing high pressure casinghead gas 10 11 injected into ,the tubing string as the artificial lift machanism. 12 Approximately 45,000 MCFPD of gas is being compressed on the 13 platform each day. Of this volums, 30,000 MCF is compressed to 14 1250 psig and utilized as gas lift gas in the oil production 15 process. The remaining 15,000 ~1CFPD is compressed to 250 psig 16 and either utilized as fuel gas, transported to the Trading Bay 17 Production Facility ,for processing through the low temperatures 18 liquid extraction plant, or part is used to maintain a safety 19 pilot. Water injection operations include processing and injscti~g 20 approxim~tsly 60,000 barrels of deaerat~d wa~er per dêY at 3500 21 psig into the H~~lo~k ~eservoir for pressure maint~nance purposss. 22 It is the cont-ention of Marathon Oil Company that the size 23 of a safety pilot required to maintain safe opsrations on the 24 platform is not only r,=lated to such factors as weather conditions 25 . and flare stack configuration, but is also directly r~lated to R 8c R COURT REPORTERS ea!S WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !S 277-4713 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 99~OI ) ) ) ') ') Page 10 1 the type of production operations, particularly the gas handling 2 proc9Ss, being conduct~d. For this reason, we feel it is very 3 p~rtinant to this hearing that you, th'; Oil and Gas Cormnittee, 4 fully unders~and the gas systzm on the 'Dolly Varden platform. 5 To aid in explaining this system, Exhibit #2, a basic schematic 6 flow diagram depicting the g2.S flow on the platform, has been 7 prepar'ed. 8 At this time, utilizing the flow schematic, I will trace 9 the gas flo\1}' beginning with the producing wells going through the 10 production separators, gas compressors, and returning to the II producing walls. Crude oil and associated solution gas produced 12 from a tot~l of sightaen oil wells on the platform are gathersd 13 into one of five production separators. In each of these vessels, 14 the gas is separated from the crude oil and is gathered into a 15 co~~on manifold directsd to the suction scrubber of sither of two 16 compressor packages. These packages are identical with each unit 17 containing one 3,000 horsepower reciprocating compressor and 18 associ'ated equipm·snt. Since these units are identical, flo\'1 will 19 only b9 traced through one unit. Gas enters the suction scrubbsr 20 from ~he production separators at 90 psig. From this'ærubbsr, 21 the gas goes ~hrough the first stag~ of compression where it is 22 compressed from 90 to 250 psig. This gas is then cooled and 23 scrubbed to remove any sntrainad liquids. 24 Downstre~ of the first intsrstage scrubber, the gas flow 25 is split into two separate streams, one going to ~1e second stage ~1 R 8: R COURT REPORTERS 82:5 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE :5 277-4713 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 99501 ) ) 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 ) 23 24 25 ~11 ) Page Ii ') 1 of compression and ths other going to the West Foreland Pro- 2 duction Facility for processing. The gas baing sent to the 3 West Foreland Production Facility comprises what we refer to as 4 the 'gas to shore' system. Following this system through on the 5 diagram, notice that both compressor units contribute to the 6 total gas to shore volume. Also, as shown on the diagram, the 7 platform fuel gas requirements are satisfied with gas from the 8 gas to shore system. This system supplies fuel gas to the Solar 9 10 turbines and boilers as well as supplying the deaerator with its 11 required gas volume. All casinghead gas in excess of these 12 requirements and safety pilot requirements is transported to 13 the west sids of Cook Inlet·for processing through the LEX Unit. 14 15 Returning to the portion of the gas stream going to th~ second stage of compression, we will continue to follow the gas flow through the compressor unit. In the second stage of compression, th~ gas is compressed from 250 psig to 480 psig and is compressed to 1250 psig in the third and final stage of compression. Third 'stage gas from both compressor units is then combingd. This high pressure gas is piped to the individual wellhead rooms where it is injected down the tubing casing annulus of each of the oil walls on the platform. The gas enters the tubing through specially designed valves and lifts the cruda oil to tha surface. This gas lift gas returns to the surface with R Be R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 5 277-4713 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 99501 ) ) '17 "~1 , Page 12 ) ) 1 the crude oil where it is recompressed. 2 For the sake of simplicity, the safety pressure relief system was not shown en this diagram. However, I would like to 3 4 point out that this relief system is piped into the flare system 5 downstream of the flare valve. The discharge side of the safety 6 relief valves installed on all of the coded hydrocarbon pressure 7 vessels are piped into this systam. We have thirty coded ves~ 8 sels on the platform. Should the pressure in any of these ves- 9 sels exceed the set pressure of its relief valve, the value auto- 10 matically opens and relieves pressure by venting gas into tha 11 flare system. 12 As previously mention·ed, the amount of gas requirad to 13 maintain a reliable safety pilot is directly relatsd to the 14 production operations. Now that the gas flow has besn explained, 15 I would like to point out some op~rating conditions under which 16 the safaty and the wellbeing of all personnel and equipment located on the platform d~pends upon a relia.bl,e saf,~ty pilot 18 and ths burning of vented gas. 19 As mentioned earli~r, approximately 45,000 MCF of gas 20 is being compr9ss9d on the platform each day. If for. any r~ason both:compressor units were to shut down simultaneously, the 21 22 flare valve shown in the flow diagram would ~h=n automatically 23 open and gas would be vented until conditions on tha platform 24 stabilizad. Tha flare rate during the firs~ few mom~n~s of th9 25 shutdown would be approximatsly 90,000 to 95,000 MCF per day. R & R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 5 277-4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 ) ) ) ~1 ) ) Page 13 1 The additional flare rate above the 45,000 MCF per day that is 2 continually being producsd is the result of an automatic safety 3 system built into each compressor unit whereby the suction 4 bottles, su~tion- and interstage scrubbers, discharge bottles, and all associated piping is depressured immediat~ly upon a 5 6 compressor shutdown. 7 This 90,000 to 95,000 MCF per day gas rate may last for 8 only a short time; however, the safety pilot must be sufficiantly 9 stable to withstand this high rate without being extinguished. 10 If the safety pilot is extinguished, then the platform could be 11 exposed to hydrocarbon vapors and possible ignition. Under 12 normal operating conditions, both compressors do not shut down 13 simultaneously; however, there are certain safety alarms and 14 , oper~tional functions ~hich would require a simultaneous shutdown 15 of both compressor units. These conditions include platform 16 electrical failures, excessive pressure in tha production 17 separators, occurrence of hydrocarbon vapors, excessive plat- 18 form vibration as a result of an earthquake or other outside 19 forces. 20 Other operating conditions where lesser flare rates occur 21 but yet where an adequate safsty pilot is required to proparly 22 dispose of the venting gas include compr-sssor shutdovlns involving 23 only one unit, excessive pressure in process vessels resulting 24 in venting gas through ths safety relief sys~em, equipment 25 failures requiring equipment to be de-pressured through the ~ & R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !I 277·4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99~01 (' i ( ( , 22 ~1 Page 14 :( (i 1 flare syst9m, and so forth. 2 To further amplify how the safety of the platform depends 3 on an adequately lighted safety pilot, I direct your attention 4 to Exhibit #3, which is an expanded view of the Dolly Varden 5 platform. This platform consists of three decks. The sub deck 6 contains the platform heating equipment and the shipping pumps 7 utilized to ship oil to the West Foreland Production Facility. 8 The production deck houses the wellheads, production vessels, 9 electrical power generation facilities, as well as a portion of 10 the water injection facilities and gas compression equipment. 11 The'top deck, referred to as tha drilling deck, contains two 12 workover rigs and associated equipment, the 'remainder of the 13 gas compression, water injection facilities, and living faci- 14 litie~ for approximately seventy men. All of this equipment is 15 contained in an area of approximately 27,000 square feet on 16 three decks, or approximately six-tenths of an acre. 17 The flare boom extends from the southwest corner of the 18 production deck at an angle of eighteen degrees above the hori- 19 zontal. This boom is approximately 100 feet long. It is readily 20 apparent that should the pilot light be :extinguished for whatever 21 reason and natural gas he vented out the flare boom, a v,ery critical condition could develop. As indicated on the drawing, 23 the area, between the drilling and production decks and between 24 the production deck and sub deck is completely enclos'ed to pro- 25 t.ect the equipment against the cold weather conditions. Th,g R & R COURT REPORTERS 82S WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE S 277-4713 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 99501 ( ( ( ~1 ( Page 15 ,{ 1 enclosed areas containing sources of ignition, such as the 2 generator room, are continually purged with outside air to 3 prevent any hydrocarbon vapor accumulation. However, if natural 4 gas at increased rates is allowed to escap~ unburnad from the 5 nearby flare boom, the wind conditions could be such that the 6 purge fans would pick up the gas and gas vapors could be intro- 7 duced inside the platform. Also, gas vapors could migrate to 8 outside work areas. It is apparent from this drawing that if 9 the gas vapors reached an explosion limit with ignition sourcas 10 present, an explosion could occur. 11 In view of the operating conditions of the Dolly Varden 12 platform, the weather conditions in the Cook Inlet area, and 13 the damage that could occur if an adequata safety pilot is not 14 inaintained,Marathon submits that the Cornmitbee should find that 15 a volume up to 1,000 HCF is required for an ad-equate safety 16 pilot. This volume is based on field observations of ths volume 17 required to maintain a light~d safety pilot under adverse '18 conditions. 19 That concludes my prepared testimony on the Dolly Varden 20 platform. I'll be happy to try and answ,er any questions at this 21 time. 22 MR. BURRELL: Thank you, Hr. Barber. r--lr. 23, Barber, what we're going to do here is we'll ask any questions 24 that come to mind as a result of~ur testimony, but we will ask 25 you and all the othar witnesses to remain availa.bl,e for qU9stions R Be R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 5 277-4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99~01 ( :( ( ~1 ( f Page 16 1 in the event w's hav,e - I shouldn't sayconflic't:ing tsstimony -- 2 but different testimony with respact to the various platforms. 3 We want to try and see comparisons, why ana may require mora than 4 another, for instance. Do you have some questions, Mr. Gilbreth? 5 MR. GILBRETH: Mr. Barber, this one million 6 a day, one million cubic feet a day that you mentionad here, you 7 said that this was based on your observations and,experisnce? 8 MR. BARBER: Observations in the fisld, yes. 9 MR. GILBRETH: Would the volume that's 10 necessary depend on the burner design, for exampl,e? 11 MR. BARBER: Possibly so. I would think 12 that the equipment that is ti~d to that flare would havs a great 13 bearing on the volums r~quired. 14 MR. GILBRETH: Is it nec:essary to flare the 15 --- this volume continuously at all times for emergency then, or 16 is it just certain times you'd need this largs a volume? 17 MR. BARBER: We think up to this volume. 18 19 We don't think that it would be necessary to flare one million 20 every day of the month. 21 MR. GILBRETH: Well, under what conditions 22 would it not be necessary and under what conditions would it 23 be necessary? How would you foretell these occurrences and how 24 much you would need? 25 MR. BARBER: Weather conditions would have a strong bearing on the volume we would think would be required. R Be R COURT REPORTERS 82.15 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 15 277.4713 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 99S01 1 ( 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 ( 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 ( 23 24 25 ~1 .( { Page 17 MR. GILBRETH: Would that be tha --- MR. BARBER: The direction of the wind, the velocity; things of this nature. And maybe we would only have one compressor running instead of two, so the potential for a large release would not be as great if you only had one com- pressor running, and the other one happened to be down for maintenance. MR. GILBRETH: I see. Based on your observations then and operation on a platform, about what par cent of the time does your experience indicate that it would be n~cess'ary to flare or have your pilot at this maximum volume? MR. BARBER: I don't have that data, Mr. Gilbr'eth,. MR. GILBRETH: In some fields does this occur half the time or a tenth of the tim~ or a less amount of time? MR. BARBER: Perhaps half. I would not MR. GILBRETH: I see. I'm not exactly familiar'witll just how the pilot is incorporated into your flare boom. Does the flare from the pilot extend directly into the path of the gas that is expelled through the flare boom, or does it sit to the side? it's MR. BARBER: The ---jactually burning out the same flare, our pil~t is. It utilizes the same flare. MR. GILBRETH: It's not just a separate R Be R COU RT REPORTERS 82!1WEST EIGHTH AVENUE.-SUITE. !S 27.7-4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 ( .. i( ( ~1 { Page 18 ( 1 pilot --- 2 MR. BARBER: Not --- 3 'MR. GILBRETH: --- itself? 4 No. It is not. It's not like HR. BARBER: a pilot light feeding a boom. MR. GILBRETH: MR. BURRELL: MR. MARSHALL: I'm --- I don't quite under- 5 6 That's all I have. 7 Mr. Marshall? 8 9 stand the arrangement on the flare boom. Is the,.'flare gas 10 introduced at the base of the boom, and then' it burns through the same orifice as the main safety escape for the gas would be of course in case of emergency? Both gasBs/burn through the same orifice 11 12 13 at the tip of the boom, but the pilot gas is introduced at the 14 base of the 'same boom as the other gas? 15 MR. BARBER: We don't really have an orifice at the tip of our boom. We have more or less a pipe. It has a 16 17 flare tip on it, but it's not, you know, it's not an orifice 18 or anything, and the gas that is burned for the safety pilot 19 is introduc,ed back .at the platform and goes out that on:e --- the 20 one flare pipe. 21 HR. MARSHALL: But it's not in a sleparate 22 piping system? 23 MR. BARBER: Not in a separate pipe. MR. MARSHALL: Just --- it's in the larger 24 25 pipe? R & R COURT REPORTERS 82.S WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITES 277·4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 (' ( ( ~1 ( ( Page 19 1 MR. BARBER: Right. MR. MARSHÞ..LL : I see. MR. BARBER: Right. MR. HARSHALL: What is th€re any baffling 2 3 4 5 or other arrangements to prevent blowing out by \'l'eather of the 6 pilot flare? 7 HR. BARBER: I don't believe so. 8 MR. MARSIßLL: In othsr words, it's mars or 9 less just a pipe? We've seen some rather ornata safety flare' 10 arrangemants which were dssignedto minimiz:a the effect of the 11 weatha~ on the flare. I'm curious if you've considered any of 12 thesa arrangements? 13 MR. BARBER: We have a different flare tip 14 we have not installed on the platform, but it's similar to qna 15 we have at ~'h~st Foreland. 'But as far as I know, it does not have 16 any baffles that would protect it against wind conditions. 17 MR. MARSHALL: That's all the questions I 18 have. 19 MR. BURRELL: Mr. Barber, I have a couple of 20 questions here. It's my understanding some of the platforms 21 'at least may have two flares; why do you only hav'e on,a? 22 MR. BARBER: One is --- 23 MR. BURRELL: Why do you think two might be 24 n'eces s ary? 25 MR. BARBER: One is adequate for our operatio:! R & R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 5 277·4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 ( !( ( ~1 ( { Pags 20 1 no\.¡. 2 MR. BURRELL: For your op8ra~icn --- 3 MR. BARBER: Yes. 4 MR. BURRELL: as based on what, throughput 5 volume of gas? 6 MR. BARBER: On the dièmeter of our flare 7 and the gas we handle. ' 8 MR. BURRELL: You may have --- for instance, 9 somebody that may have two flares may hav8 smaller diameter 10 flares? 11 MR. BARBER: Possibly so. I don't know. 12 MR. BURRELL: But in your case, the diameter 13 of your flare is such that one is adequate? 14 MR. BARBER: That's correct. 15 MR. BURRELL: Okay. Next question, as I 16 understand it, the main factors relating to size of your flare 17 are, one, weather, w:eather and wind, if you will, second, your 18 gas handling equipment:, gas handling process equipment; is that 19 essentially it, or is there any other basis? 20 MR. BARBER: The sudden well, the sudden 21 release of gas should both units go down. 22 MR. BURRELL: Right, and in the~ent ana of 23 the compressors goes down. 24 MR. BARBER: One or both, right. 25 ' MR. BURRELL: One or both. R 6: R COURT REPORTERS 82.5 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-.5UITE is 277-4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 ( ( ( ~1 ( ( Page 21 1 MR. BARBER: Right. 2 MR. BURRELL: So those three factors 3 essentially would be the major factors in determining the size 4 of your --- the safety pilot requirements, right? 5 MR. BARBER: I would ,say so. MR. BURRELL: You also indicated that the 6 7 one million cubic feet per day which you are requesting us to 8 authorize for a safety flare would probably be adequate for the 9 worst day? 10 MR. BARBER: We think so, yes. 11 MR. BURRELL: Like the day both compressors 12 are down, the day the wind is just wrong, 13 MR. BARBER: Yes. HR. BURRELL: a day like that? MR. BARBER: Yes, it. would be adequa t'6 . HR. BURRELL: What do you think about a 14 15 16 17 monthly average for flare size which would be something less than 18 thirty times a million per month. 19 MR. BARBER: Yes. 20 MR. BURRELL: Do you think an appropriate 21 it would be appropriate to enter an order which would not allow 22 you a million per day every day, but a monthly average, or do you think there should be just some discretion, should it be with 23 24 the Committee, should it be with the platform. supervisor, or 25 what's your thought? In other words, you've already indicated R Be R COURT REPORTERS 8215 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 15 , 277.47t3 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 9950t {' ~ ~ Page 22 1 as I underst~nd your testimony th~t you don't need a million ( 2 per day avary d~y, that's the worst situation? 3 MR. BARBER: Ne don' t n~,ed a million. Yes. 4 We feel like th~t would bs the worst. 5 MR. 'BURRELL: Right. 6 MR. BARBER: Thirty million a month, we 7 would suspect that we will have less than thirty million a month, 8 but if \"9 sayan average of so much a month, --- 9 MR. BURRELL: If it's a windy month and ths 10 compressors are down all month, you 'v,s got a problem, right? 11 MR. BARBER: We sure could have, right. 12 MR. BURRELL: Yeah. ( 13 MR. BARBER: I'd hate to prophasizs on what 14 that would av'srage a month. 15 MR. BURRELL: All right. We'd hate to 16 proph~siz'ê th~ wind or the st~~tus of the compressors. 17 MR. BARBER: Right. 18 MR. BURRELL: Hmm, that's interesting. Should 19 we --- what about an order that is less than a million, say ,20 a thirty day average but with the usual escape clause for an 21 em~rgency situation when th~re would be a compressor down, one 22 or two down, or both? ( 23 'MR. BARBER: Hell, MR. BURRELL: What could you liva with is I'm going to ask this of ,every other --- (thope. 24 25 my question. ~1 R & R COURT REPORTERS 82.5 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !5 277·4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 ( ( { ~1 :( Page 23 ( 1 MR. BARBER: Ysah. 2 MR. BURRELL: Just b8causa you'ra tha first 3 don't think I'm picking on you. 4 HR. BARBER: ~V'ell, I think that W'ê:. could 5 live wi t.'1 somsthing l,sss tha.n thirty mill~on a month. Trying to 6 pin that number down~ I'm afr2id I couldn't do right now --- 7 MR. BURRELL: Sure. 8 MR. BARBER: --- without time trial involved. 9 MR. BURRELL: Now, that leavss anoth~r 10 alternative 6f course is to look for a little experience. Give 11 a temporary order and look for a littl's experience and than 12 write a final order after that. I'll want to ,explor,e this more 13 after I think about that. . 14 MR. GILBRETH: I'm sure the nature of this 15 so-called emergency flaring that we're talking about is such 16 that it would be almost impossible to measure the amount of gas, 17 wouldn't it, I mean in such a surg,e? 18 MR. BARBER: Yes, sir, it would, Mr. Gilbrsth. 19 MR. GILBRETH: What about measurin~ th6 mnount ~hat you hava just for the safety pilot, is this practical or 20 21 feasible? 22 MR. BARBER: Not in our installation. I 23 couldn't ' answer for the other platforms, but for,Qurs it's not. 24 MR. GILBRETH: You're not tied in in such a 25 manner that it could be measured? R Be R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE IS , . 277-4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 ( ( Page 24 1 MR. BARBER: No, sir, we're not. That's ( 2 right. 3 MR. GILBRETH: In other words, anything W~ 4 come up 'with is going to be an estimate and it's going to depend 5 on the man looking at the size of the flame out there, isn't it? 6 MR. BARBER: Well, not really. We run a gas 7 balance on our platform. We measure through the system, and then , 8 the difference would be the safety pilot, under normal operating 9 conditions. 10 , MR. GILBRETH: That's all I have at this 11 tim'e . 12 MR. BURRELL: Mr. Marshall? I guess that's ( 13 all we have for you now, Mr. Barber. Thank you. You will bs 14 availabl1e, sir? 15 MR. BARBER: Yes. 16 MR. ANDERSON: Mr. Barber, were your exhibits 17 one, two, and three for the Dolly Varden platform prepared by 18 you or under your supervision? 19 MR. BARBER: Exhibit #1 was prepared under 20 someone else's supervision for yesterday's testimony. Two and 21 Three under mine for today. 22 ( 23 MR. ANDERSON: You approved Exhibit #1 as part of your testimony? MR. BARBER: Yes. 24 25 MR. ANDERSON: We ask that these be accepted R Be R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 5 , 277-4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 ~1 (" :( ( ~1 ( { Page 25 1 as part of tbe record. MR. BURRELL: Vary good. Did we identify them as ..-- MR. ANDERSON: Dolly Varden #1, 2 --- MR. BURRELL: Dolly Varden #1, 2 and 3. MR. ANDERSON: Yes. And ~..,e' 11 MR. BURRELL: Dolly Varden #1 is --- MR. ANDERSON: Is Exhibit #2 from MR. BURRELL: Pipeline --- MR. ANDERSON: --- Pipeline --- MR. BURRELL: --- Exhibit --- MR. ANDERSON: --- Exhibit #2 ! MR. BURRELL: --- #2 from yesterday. MR. ANDERSON: --- from yesterday, and we 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 will furnish you smaller copies of that as we premised yesterday. 16 MR. BURRELL: Thank you, Mr. Anderson. MR. ANDERSON: Mr. Barber will remain sworn 17 18 for later testimony on the West Foreland Production Facility. 19 MR. BURRELL: Thank you. 20 MR. ANDERSON: Our next witness is Mr. R. C. 21 Keller of Union Oil Company who will present testimony on th,e 22 Grayling platform, McArthur Rivar Field, and ths Monopod plat- 23 form, Trading Bay Field. Mr. Keller was qualified at yesterday's Committee hearing, and. we ask that his qualifications be accepted 24 25 for the purpose of today. . R Be R COURT REPORTERS 8215 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !I 277.4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 995p1 ( ( t ~1 '( ~~ Page 26 1 MR. BURRELL: They are. MR. KELLER: Ny name is Richard Keller, and 2 3 I'm c~~rently ARaa Engineer with Union Oil Company, Anchorage 4 District, Alaska. My purpose here today is to describa the gas procassing system and the need for safety pilots and to 5 6 recommend safety pilot sizes for the Grayling platform. (M 11" h d h· b . """ h· . , r. Ke er s test~mony "attac e as an ex ~ ~ t ,-0 t ~s transcr~pt. 7 8 MR. BURRELL: Were you going to testify on 9 the Monopod or --- 10 MR. KELLER: Yes., 11 MR. BURRELL: Now or later? 12 MR. KELLE R: Y:es, now. MR. BURRELL: Now. MR. KELLER: Unl·es s you'd like to ask 13 14 15 questions now. 16 MR. BURRELL: List's just cover this now 17 before you continue. 18 MR. KELLER: Okay. 19 HR. BURRELL: If that's okay with you, Hr. 20 Kell~r? 21 MR. KELLER: It's fine. 22 MR. GILBRETH: Mr. Keller, just looking at 23 the lexhibi ts that you've had a.nd thos,e that Hr. Barber presented'l I I I I 24 there ',5 not a great deal of diff,erence in the amount of pro- 25 duction, amount of gas production. You have two flares; they . R & R çou RT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !S 277.4713 ANCHORAGE,ALASKA 99501 ,( ( Page 27 1 hav9 one on the Dolly Varden. This million cubic f:st a day ( 2 per flare you" re talking a.bout, since you ha.ve the two flaras, 3 is it necsss~ry that thay both go a~ th2 maximum at all timss, 4 or when you hav,= maximum ccndi ticns, is it necessary that th-:y 5 both be at maximum than? 6 HR. KELLER: Yes, sir, we feel it is. Our 7 reli·ef systam ties into both of these flares simultaneously, 8 and. like I sa.y, we hava two flares to dissipate the heat that's 9 evolved. und<:;r thosa conditions, and our experience has shown .10 that it takes that much to keap th·e flar.es lit under thoss 11 conditions. 12 MR. GILBRETH: Well, now if I understood the ( 13 testimony, this would dspend on the production and the wind and 14 'weather conditions and so forth? 15 MR. KELLER: Yes, sir. 16 HR. GILBRETH: In your opinion, is this 17 18· million per day that I guess w:e can call a m~ximum amount tha.t is would be absolutely necessary,/that necessary then regardless 19 of the amount of gas that you expect to expel in emergency 20 conditions? 21 22 MR. KELLER: I'm sorry, I --- ' MR. GILBRETH: Is itd~pendent entirely on ( 23 the wind, let's put it that way? 24 MR. KELLER: The wind and the shutdown 25 ' condition whera we vent a large amount of gas. . R 8: R COURT REPORTERS 8215 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 15 277-4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 ~1 ( ( ( ~1 '(\ { ( paga 28 1 MR; GILBRETH: Well, what I'm trying to under- 2 stand, Mr. Barbsr indicated that he's going to put out twice as 3 much in öne of his flares as you do in yours, and it takes a 4 million a day to kesp his burning, and the only comparison I 5 can see batwaen the two would be wind, 6 MR. KELLER: Yes, primarily. 7 MR. GILBRETH: --- that if there's a wind 8 condition, why you'd both need the same, but if it's the opera- 9 ting conditions, why then theoretically \-lhy it should take much 10 more than half bur~ing to go into your flare. 11 MR. KELLER: All I can say is this is what 12 our experienc:e has found. We --- if the wind is blowing a 13 c:ertain dir:ection, the discharge will put out one b~g flænê, 14 and in order to keep the heat to a minimum on this platform, we 15 do havs. the two flê.res, and primarily it's the wind that will 16 blow thesa flares out, but a combination of the two is our worst 17 possible condition. 18 MR. GILBRETH: I see. \Vhat about the con- 19 struction of your flares, do you actually have a pilot --- a 20 separate pilot, or is it just incorporated into the flare boom? ' 21 MR. KELLER: It's incorporated into the 22 flare boom. \ve do have we did have --- or I should say wa de 23 have igniters on the flares that are a --- also serve as a pilot, 24 but they've never b~en satisfactory and are now disconnected on 25 the platform. R Be R COURT REPORTERS 82S WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE S . 277.4713 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 99501 { (' Page 29 3 HR. GILBRETH: That's all I have. MR. BURRELL: Hr. Marshall? MR. MARS HALL: Are your igniters ,electrical 1 ( 2 4 igniters? 5 MR. KELLER: Like I say, they're not in 6 operation now. Thsy ware, yes. They mix gas and air together 7 and a spark ignites the flame front which goes up a separate 8 pipe and ignites th9 flare. 9 MR.HARSHALL: Is the igniter at the burner 10 tip of the flare? 11 MR. KELLER: Yes. 12 MR. MARSHALL: Do you have any wind baffling '( 13 arrangaments around your flares? 14 MR. KELLER: Yes, sir, we do. 15 MR. HARSHALL: Would you describe that 16 briefly? 17 MR. KELLER: Oh, it's a --- it amounts to a 18 shield. 19 MR. MARSHALL: On the off platform side of 20 the --- 21 MR. KELLER: Yes. 22 MR. MARSHALL: flare? It's just a flat ( 23 shield, is it, or does it surround the entire flare? 24 ,MR. ~~RSHALL: Yes. It's just a metal shield. 25 We have R Be R COU,RT REPORTERS 82.5' WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 5 277·4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 " ~1 ( ,( ( ~1 ~\ ( Page 30 1 HR. MARS HALL: Is it tubular, or is ". flat? J.~ MR. KELLER: I'm not surs. MR. MARSHALL: ~'Jell , both the witnesses this 2 3 4 morning have mentioned the wind problem and ths weather problem, 5 and I really hav'~n 't h'eard anything much about the dssign which 6 could possibly b9 made to minimize the flar~ because of the 7 weather situation. 8 MR. KELLER: We have yet to find any dasign 9 that will allo,.¡ us to protect the flare. ~'Je also 'have a problem 10 kgeping the flare small. 11 MR. MARSHALL: You still have a wind deflecto= 12 on your flare now; apparently it has some value? 13 MR. KELLER: It has some value. We may --- 14 , actually it --- ac~ually it would flare more if it weren't for 15 the baffling. 16 MR. MARSHALL: Thank you. MR. BURRELL: Mr. Barber, I have a coupl'e I'm sorry, !-1r. Keller. Haybe if I --- Mr. 17 18 of questions here. 19 Keller, I have a coupls of questions. ~fu,endid you put two flares on? Did you start out with two flare booms on that, or 20 21 was the second flare boom installed at a later date? 22 ,MR. KELLER: The second flare boom was 23 installed at a later date after we ~dded mors compression 24 equipment. They we:r;:s on when I was' trans f,erred up here; I don I t I 25 know exact dates. R Be R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !5 277.4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 ( ~'~ Pag,a 31 1 HR. BURRELL: Initially there was on'e flar-e ( 2 on,th3 beom on th~ pla~form, or I should say one pilot boom, 3 whatav,er on the plat.form, and then ther~ ''las another ons a.dded 4 later a~ som~ subsequ9nt date. 5 MR. KELLER: Yes. 6 MR. BURRELL: \~= 1 re talking a.bout a sub- 7 stantial diffsrence here, and it bothsrs me. Mr. Barber testified 8 that the Dolly Varden platform was producing 45 mcf of gas per 9 day; you testified that the Grayling platform is producing 10 just slightly oyer --- just over 55 mef per day; yet you want 11 twic'e the flare. Why --.... I don I t --- why can I t you run that 12 through ona flare boom at a higher rate, answer that? ( 13 MR. KELLER: Wall, all I can say is that we 14 . are responsible for the safety of our peopl,a on the platforms 15 and 16 ~lR. BURRELL: So is Hr. Barber on his pIa t- , 17 form. Are you insinuating he I s lesssaf:e? 18 MR. KELLER: No, sir. I just feel that ~-- 19 this is what we feel is nesdedto he safe on the platform at 20 this tim'8. 21 MR. BURRELL: Can you give me any r'sason why 22 the diff,erenc,e in what each of you fs,sl is· nec·eSSê.ry to bs saf:a? ( 23 MR. KELLER: One of the things we do have 24 ar's compressors spread out over a greabsr distance. Like I say 'I Thsy're 25 w'enow have nine compressors, and we will have ten. ~1 R & R COURT REPORTERS 8215, WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE S 277·4713 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 99501 ( ( ( <I~1 (' Page 32 1 spread out over a larger area of tha platform. This may ba ana 2 r'sason for it. 3 MR. BURRELL: But couldn't --- 4 MR. KELLER: To ke~p the flares closer to 5 the compressors --- 6 MR. BURRELL: --- that all ba gath'arad 7 together? 8 MR. KELLER: --- where each flara is closer 9 to the compr9ssors where thay're operating. 10 MR. BURRELL: But couldn't that all be gathered in one boom? MR. KELLER: It could be. MR. BURRELL: Well, we. really would like to 11 12 13 14 know why the second boom is being used? 15 MR. KELLER: Well, all I can say is that 16 this is what we fe'el is safe. 17 MR. BURRELL: Well, of course it'd be safer,' 18 I suppose, if you had two more booms. 19 MR. KEELER: I --- 20 MR.' BURRELL: I'm unable to find a rsason 21 why you set your boom --- why a slight difference in gas pro- 22 duction, about a twenty per cent diffarence in gas production, 23 why you need twice the flare? Could you help me on that? MR. KELLER: Only,the fact that there are two' 24 25 flares in approximately the same location. R 8< R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 5 277·4713 ANCHORAGE,ALASKA 99501 ( ( ( 20 21 24 25 ~1 ( (' Page 33 1 MR. BURRELL: Well, but if thare wera four 2 flares, then you'd w~nt four million a day? 3 MR. KELLER: Probably ha.ve to have four to 4 maintain the flares. 5 MR. BURRELL: What about six flaras, six 6 million a day? 7 HR. KELLER: But we fael that two is 8 adequate for safety. 9 MR. BURRELL: But how come one is adequate 10 for safety on 45 million dubic feet of gas? 11 MR. KELLER: I can It answer that. This is 12 an --- 13 MR. BURRELL: Why can't you answer that? 14 MR. KELLER: --- engine~ring difference in 15 philosophy, I suppose. 16 MR. BURRELL: I can't answer it sither. 17 Mr. Gilbreth? 18 MR. GILBRETH: Mr. Keller, could you giva 19 me again the figure that you gave as an instantaneous discharga rate in the event of emsrgency? MR. KELLER: We calculate 110,000 mcf per 22 day, approximately 'two and a half s,econds after a total shutdown. 23 MR. GILBRETH: The piping on your platform, is it such that the flare volume could be maasured? MR. KELLER: Not dir~ctly. It's obtained R 8c R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !5 277.4713 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 99501 ('" ( ( ~1 ~ ( Page 34 1 by differenca. ~v'e have a total of our produced gas, a total of what we: send to shore, what our fuel requirements are, and th·8 differ~nce is what we flare. 2 3 4 MR. GILBRETH: In other words, it'd ba just 5 the estimated diff~rence? 6 MR. KELLER: Yes, the calculated diffêr€nc~. 7 MR. GILBRETH: Is there anything in the 8 design of the flare boom i tselftha.t would make a differenc9 Sè~Y 9 between your platform and any of the other platforms on the 10 vOlum'ê of gas that. might be needÐd? 11 MR. KELLER: I don't know how all the,rest 12 of the flares are designed., I expect that most of them are very 13 similar. 14 MR. GILBRETH: Just for t.he racord, could yo~ 15 give us an idea of the length and the diameter of your 'flare 16 boom? 17 MR. KELLER: There are two eight inch 18 relief lines in each flare, and thaflaras are approximately 19 a. hundred fe!et long; they may be somewhat. shorter. 20 MR. GILBRETH: All right, that's all Ih~vs, 21 thank you. 22 MR. BURRELL: Hell, I have another one. Nr. 23 Keller, ~.¡hat would you think a.bout a monthly av·eraga? If one 24 million per flare which you1va requestad per day is the worst 25 condi tions, compressors down, th,e wind blowing the 'Vlrong dirsctio::1, R Be R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE i5 277.4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501· ,( ( Page 35 1 everything --- f 4 MR. KELLER: Yes. MR. BURRELL: going to ble.zas , right? HR. KELLER: Right. HR. BURRELL: ~vha t do you think about a 2 3 5 6 monthly averags? Something l,ess than th2.t, does that sound 7 r'easonabl,e? Just philosophically speaking, \..¡ithout naming 8 numbers right now? 9 MR. KELLER: v-rell, I feel that safely wa ca.n 10 live with a thousand a day avsrage for the month and possibly 11 less. 12 r·1R. DURRELL: H;ell, that's worst conditions '( 13 t.hat --- 14 MR. KELLER: That's worst conditions. 15 MR. BURRELL: --- that you've found, that's 16 worst conditions? 17 MR. KELLER: Right. 18 t-1H. BURRELL: So you know you can live with 19 less unless things go wrong, right? 20 21 MR. KELLER: Correct. MR. BURRELL: Okay. lih at would you think about a trial period to see what the actual performancs is? 22 <. 23 MR. IELLER: I think this\..¡ould be --- 24 MR. BURRELL: With an emergency escape clause, 25 you understand, of course. ~1 R 8c R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE S 277-4713 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 99501 ( 10 11 12 ( 13 ' 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 ( 23 24 25 ' ~1 ~t ( Page 36 1 MR. KELLER: Yes. I think this comes under it. 2 MR. BURRELL: In casa something goes wrong, 3 you understand that. We don!t want to endanger ~nybody's lif~ 4 at all, but I'm un~ble to grasp mentally why you nged ~wice the 5 flare for twenty par cent more gas. 6 MR. ANDERSON: Mr. Chairman? MR. BURRELL: Yes, sir. MR. ANDERSON: For ths sake of tim9, may we 7 8 9 go on to the Honopod platform? MR. BURRELL: Certainly, if everybody's through aSking qU'~stions. MR. ANDERSON: Excuse me. MR. BURRELL: Mr. Marshall, do you have anymore? Hr. Gilbreth? Okay. Excuse m'e, 1-1r'.Andsrson, would you like thesa exhibits to be introduced for the Grayling? l'-1R. ANDERSON: Yes, at this time I'd like to ask Mr. Keller on Grayling ,Exhibit A, was that prepared by you or under your supervision? MR.KELLER: Yes, under my direction. MR. ANDERSON: We ask that it ba entered into the record. ~lR. BURRELL: Ne'll accept the eight by t~n copy as Grayling Exhibit A. MR. ANDERSON: Grayling Exhibit A, all right. Mr. Chairman, we broke at ten yestarday¡ would the R Be R COURT REPORTERS 82i5 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 5 277.4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 ( ( ( ~1 ( f Page 37 1 Committee entertain a coffee break at this time. Just a sUggastirn. MR. BURRELL: Good idea. Weill take a fifteen 2 3 minute br·eak. 4 (OFF THE RECORD) 5 (ON THE RECORD) 6 MR. BURRELL: Walll reconvene the hearing 7 now. Mr. Kellar. 8 MR. KELLER: My name is Richard Keller, and 9 I am Area Enginaer for Union oil Company, Anchorage ,District, 10 Alaska. 11 MR. BURRELL: Excuse me, Mr. Keller, can I 12 interrupt~ Welve all been guilty of this I hear from the back of the room, if we could speak a little louder. Some of th~ 13 14 people in the back at least say that it seems as though we're 15 talking to each other, so I for one shall make an effort to 16 speak a little louder. ,Maybe if we all could do that, it'd be 17 helpful. Thank you. 18 MR. KELLER: My purpose here today is to 19 de;scribe the gas processing system and the need for safety pilots 20 and to recommend safety pilot sizes for the Monopodplatform. 21 I have testified previously a.s·to why sàfety'pilbts are 22 required on, Cook Inlet platforms and will now discuss only the 23 Monopod. I wish to have my previous general comrnents regarding 24 ths Grayling platform incorporated into this testimony. 25 MR. BURRELL: They are so-incorporated. R & RCOURTREPORTERS 82!5 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !5 277-4713 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 99501 ( ( ( f Page 38 1 MR. KELLER: (Mr. Keller's testimony is 2 attached as an exhibit to this transcript.) 3 MR. BURRELL: Thank you, Mr. Keller. Mr. 4 Gilbreth? 5 MR. GILBRETH: Mr. Keller, in your Exhibit A 6 you show eight inch flare lines and ten inch flare lines. Are 7 these the sizes of the booms themselves, or are thsse just the 8 platform pilot lights? 9 MR. KELLER: Those are the size of the flares 10 themsel vas. 11 HR. GILBRETH: They are. Her,e ag ain, i s th:~ 12 piping such that' the gas VOlUffi8 can be m::~asured going to t.h'9 13 14 flars boom? MR. KELLER: No, sir. It's obtained by 15 differenc:e of our sUImning up our total produc,ed gas' and sub- 16 tracting the gas we use fot f~el and ship to shore. 18 17 MR. GILBRETH: In your schematic here, where would the pilot gas what would be the source of pilot gas 20 19 . for the flare booms? 21 22 23 24 25 ~1 MR. KELLER: The --- on the upper flare that you see, the pi~ot gas is obtained from the lower eight inch flare lin·s. MR. GILBRETH: I know, but --- MR. KELLER: ,And the lower --- t-1R . GILBRETH: --- trying to· trace the flow R & R COURT REPORTERS 82.5 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 5 277-4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 (' ( ( ~·1 ( Page 39 ( 1 back from that point. 2 MR. KELLER: Yaah, it's obtainad off of the 3 main header m~nifold there where you see the old pre-comprsssor 4 scrubbsr just to ths right there of the --- that's the on9, just 5 to the right of the separators. The other ons's obtainêd off the 6 number one gross separator. That maintains the oth'ar flare. 7 l-lR. GILBRETH : There 's nowhere in your whole system then for provision for metering of the let's cali it 8 9 pilot gas? 10 MR. KELLE R : No, there isn't. HR. GILBRETH: Could it be incorpora t·ed? MR. KELLER: I don't believe it could he 11 12 13 safely incorporatèd. The purpose of the relief lins is to --- 14 a minimum of back pressure, in fact no back pressure to speak 15 of, and installing a meter in the line would form a back prassure 16 under discharge conditions. MR. GILBRETH: I can understand that so far 17 18 as the safety phase is. concerned for relief purposes, but what 19 about the' --- just the piloted fire, that's what I'm referring 20 to? 21 MR. KELLER: It is possible, I believe, that 22 that probably could be used. 23 MR. GILBRETH: I --- the thought occurrad to 24 me, consideririg your ear¡ier testimony, nobody really seems to 25 know what these things require. I'm just· wondering if it'd be R 8c R COURT REPORTERS 82!5 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !5 277-4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 ( ~" Page 40 1 possible to rig up any sort of a test hook-up through axisting ( 2 aquipment that it ,could b~ measured against somehow? 3 MR. KELLER: There's a problem that it's 4 vary, very low pressure gas which is extremely difficult to 5 msasure. It does vary greatly, and orifice meters, to my 6 knowledge, ,ha~e approximately a five to one ratio of being able 7 to measure gas in that particular line. I don't believe that I 8 would recommend it, simply because of this problam of when we havs 9 to have an instantaneous release, we can't live with a mater in 10 that line. , 11 MR. GILBRETH: Well, I realize that. But 12 apparently you have some restriction of the line right now going '( 13 to the pilot --- 14 MR. KELLER: The control valve. 15 MR. GILBRETH: --- or will have to control 16 the pilot itself. 17 MR. KELLER: A control valve, yes, which 18 is a pull open tYP8 valve. 19 MR. GILBRETH: And I'm talking about mebering 20 upstream ,of that control valve. 21 MR. KELLER: Well, this becomes a problem, 22 you put a restriction then ahead of the control valve, and it ( 23 would be the same thing as putting a meter downstrleam of the 24 control valve,: either place would present a back pressure 25 ' condition where you want to instantaneously release this in an ~1 R & R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 5 277·4713 ANCHORAGE,ALASKA 99501 ( , 11 ( '( ~l f Page 41 (' 1 emergency. I know of no way that we could safely --- 2 MR. GILBRETH: I'm not understanding your 3 testimony at all then. I understood that the one million a day 4 was to provids for all necessary contingencies and the pilot 5 light. 6 MR. KELLER: That's correct. 7 MR. GILBRETH: Now, if you wers metering 8 one million a day through there, why would this restrict your 9 flow for safety ,purposes then? 10 MR. KELLER: Because this is ths. SaID·9 lin~9 that a 'release, when it occurs, if we have a shutdown, the prsssurz 12 in that line is r9leased through that valve. 13 M~. GILBRETH: ~lliat happens to your control 14 valve? Does --- 15 MR. KELLER: It opens up. The control valve 16 then opens up and releases the gas until the pressure goes down, 17 so this is the line one of the lines that relieves. 18 MR. GILBRETH: Under the worst conditions, 19 as I understand your t·sstimony, you think that you'd need a 20 million a day. What is your best ,estimate at this time under 21 ideal conditions that you'd need? Is it still a million a day 22 or half a million? 23 MR. KELLER: Something less than a million, 24 ¥'es. 25 MR. GILBRETH: You just don't have any idea R 8: R COURT REPORTERS 82!5 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !5 277·4713 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 99501 ( ( ( ~1 ( Page 42 ,( 1 how much less? 2 MR. KELLER: On the M~nopod platform, waive :3 been, una.ble t.o draw the fl2.r::s dO\Vl1, sae i we haV3 to base our 4 expsrienc= ~n the Gr~yling at this tim2 until W9 gat our sys~2m 5 opera~icnal. 1~9 can only estimate from what we're using on tha 6 Grayling. 7 ~m.GILBRETH: The --- your testimony here 8 for th~ Honopod ~nd also for tha Grayling is that. the pilot gas 9 goes do\~ the lin~ ~nd you just kaep the flare boom lit at all 10 tims;s? 11 MR. KELLER: Yss, sir. 12 HR. GILBRETH: Is it feasible to install a 13 separate pilot line?" 14 a MR. KELLER: We have installed/separate 15 pilot line: we haven't had ,good experience with it. That's our 16 main problem. 17 ~ffi. GILBRETH: I see. What problems have 18 you had with thase? 19 MR. KELLER: Well, I don't know if it's a 20 combination of 'the ,extrema temperature differenc·es. The problem 21 ws have \~ith the flar:s on an angle like this, the wind --- the 22 flame itself is not right at the tip; the flame itself is usually 23 24 a foot, or two feet, or three fe,et away from the tip. ~vith the wind blowing right back at it, you g~t -a problem with after a 25 psriod of time the burner· tip itself, regardless of what kind yo~ R ec R COURT REPORTERS 82!1 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !I 277-47t3 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 9950t ( ( ( ~1 { Page 43 (' 1 put on, ands·up burning up. ~ve have replaced several tips on 2 tips on th~t pla~form, the platform. We do have John Zink 3 but th9Y' just d8teriorate \.¡ith time a.nd you can't rely on thsm 4 to main'tain. 5 MR. GILBRETH: ~fuat is the length of your 6 flara booms hers? 7 MR. KELLER: Approximately a hundred feet. 8 I don't have the exact figure. I can get those figures for you 9 if you ne2d them. 10 MR. GILBRETH: That's all I have. MR. BURRELL: Mr. Harshall? MR. MARSHALL: You mentioned, Mr. Keller, that the flar.e being at an ang l·e , flare boom being at è.n 2~ngle , 11 12 13 14 the wind would cause blow back, burning up the flares. Havs you 15 experimented with putting in an elbow so that the flare stack 16 would be vertical at its tip? 17 MR. KELLER: We do have those on the Grayling. 18 I don't believe the Monopod ones are turned up at the end. It's 19 simply a matter of whichever way the thing is pointing, your,boom 20 itself is out on an angle, and the wind can blow it ahd has blown 21 it right back onto the flare stack, r~gardless of which direction 22 it points. We prefer to have the flare tip pointing away from 23 the platform; this just extends the distance from the platform 24 that the flar= i tsslf is actually lit. We pref·er to have the 25 flames direct9daway from the platform. R & R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 5 277·4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 ( ( ~ ~1 { Page 44 ( 1 MR. MARSHALL: Has it ever happensd YOU'V9 2 had any liquids flood through that system? 3 HR. KELLER: Not to my knowledge. Ha have 4 flar9 scrubbers that are shown on the diagram that scrub any 5 liquids that might get into that system. They are in turn 6 piped back into our oil shipping line to shore. So I don't 7 not to my knowledge we have never had any liquids go out the 8 flare. 9 MR. ~~RSHALL: All right. Now, on the 10 Honopod you've used the word a burner tip. Ar·e --- do you haV'B 11 some wind baffl·es or electrical igniter system out on the --- 12 in operation on the Monopod? 13 MR. KELLER: We have just install~d el9ctrical 14 igni tar type thing on th·e Honopod. ~ve do have wind shields. 15 MR. NARSHALL: Have --- you men.tioned th?..t 16 you've had som~ back luck with electrical igniters. Have you 17 ever used any catalytic igniters, platinum catalytic igniters? 18 MR. KELLER: Not to my knowledge. The type 19 we have had is a sparkpl,ug type arrangement. Gas and air are mixed together, and the spark is ignited and goes up. 20 21 MR. MARSHALL: Well, I'd just like to ask 22 one more question about the shape of the discharge vent there. 23 It I s pointed outward to proj act the flame away from tiH~ platform, 24 and I certainly understand that. Do you do you think there's 25 a compromise batween maybe the length of the boom and the final R & R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !5 277-47t3 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 9950t ( ( ( ~1 (" Page 45 1 direction of ·the flame? In other words, if the boom wars long~r, I 2 could th~r9 not be a tip angl= such that it's burning in a 3 vertical 'position? 4 MR. KELLER: Well, you reach a limit of 5 the structural stabili~y of the flare boom, for one thing. Just 6 so long until the pipe you can project out and saf,ely hold it 7 up thsreonto the platform. I think we have designed the maximum 8 distc:nce \'le can --- that W8 can on our f laras to ke.ep th,~m as 9 far away as w: can from the facility. 10 HR. . HARSHALL: P,e.rhaps th,ers could b'9 a 11 compromise hatwssn a slight angLe from vertical of the burnar 12 tip and a vertical flame. Have ybu ever done any expsri- 13 menting tlli th this? 14 MR. KELLER: I believe just about all our 15 tips do. Nhere the pipe com,es out the tip is directed up s:ame- 16 what. This is to obtain better burning. 17 MR. l>'lARSHALL: That's all the questions I 18 19 have. MR. BURRELL: Mr. Kellar, ~.¡hat' s the --- I 20 have a little different approach. ~'Jhat' s the oil p~o,duction, 21 the daily oil production, of the Honopoà? HR. KELLER: Approximataly 15,000 barrels 22 23 24 p9r day. MR. BURRELL: 15,000. v'7hat' s the gas pro- 25 duction? R Be R COURT REPORTERS 82!5 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE S 277.4713 ANCHORAGE,ALASKA 99501 1 ( 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 '( 17 18 19 20 21 22 ( 23 24 25 ~l ( ( Page 46 MR. KELLER: Gas --- solution gas production is approximately 15,000. MR. BURRELL: Okay, th~tls what I wanted to know. Okay. Two booms ~nd two flares? MR. KELLER: Yss, sir. MR. BURRELL: Were they both installed initially, or was one added 1atar, or do you know? MR. KELLER: No, we had one flare originally, and --- 13 MR. BURRELL: And you addsd on,s later? MR. KELLER: --- we added onl8 later --- MR. BURRELL: I sea. MR. KELLER: --- when we had morè gas 14 'production then. 15 MR. BURRELL: Do you knew why MR. KELLER: And pressur2. t.1R . BURRELL: '+. wa.s added later? ~... MR. KELLER: Yes, ..... was to dissipate the ~J.- 16 heat. We I'm sorry I don't have a diagram of the Monopod platform, but there are two pipe racks on the platform for the drilling operation, and the pipe racks, the surface of them consisted of wood that was treated and not supposed to burn or anything, and we had instanc9 where the wood actually caught fire on one of these cases where it was shut down with our existing compressor setup which doesn't handle the gas used on R & R COURT REPORTERS 8215 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !5 277-4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 ( { ( ~1 ( Pag,e 4 7 { 1 th~ new compr9ssors will, and it actually caught this wood on 2 fire so we --- this was one of the prime rsasons for adding tha 3 second flare boom, and we'v~ since put sts:l decks on our pipe 4 racks to pr:vent this from recurring. 5 MR. BURRELL: Was your fire a result of an 6 instantaneous discharge situation? 7 HR. KELLER: Yes. I believe it was a shutdown 8 condition with our existing compressors. 9 MR.BURRELL: Could that be solved by changing 10 the location of the flare boom? 11 MR. KELLER: Well, this is what wa did. Wß 12 put one on the northwest cornar and one on the south; this is 13 where they are located, on opposit~ sides of tha platform. The 14 ona on the northwest is directed the furth~rest away from ,either 15 of the pips racks and the living qUê.rt,ers. 16 MR. BURRELL: Why could not all the gas be 17 directed through that one flare boom? 18 MR. KELLER: Number one, it would take a 19 total redesign of our safety relief systems. All of our separators are on the production deck on the opposite side of the platfoIill, 20 21 and this is where part of the gas goes, and even that flara is extremely hot undar,normal conditions, and under shutdown con- ditions it's to us unacceptable for just one flare. 22 23 24 MR. BURRELL: No doubt, as long as gas is 25 being directed to it, it would be extremely hot; I'll buy that. R 8: R COURT REPORTERS 82!5WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !5 277·4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 ( ( Page 48 1 But why couldn't --- other than the design problems, is there ( 2 any reason why it couldn't be run through the north boom? 3 MR. KELLER: No, we just feel that it's safsr 4 the way we have it. 5 MR. BURRELL: Your---you've got 15,000 6 cubic fset, and you want to flare a million max. total? 7 MR. KELLER: That's right. 8 MR. BURRELL: Dolly Varden's got three times 9 as much gas they're producing, and they want to flare half as 10 much; can you explain that? . 11 ( MR. KELLER: Well, like I say, one of the big ,12 considerations is this shutdown condition where we have --- 13 MR. BURRELL: They have a shutdown condition 14 too, don't they? 15 MR. KELLER: Yes, Yies, sir, I ---yes. ~lR. BURRELL: And th'ey , rs designed for ;..\- -'..... MR. KELLER: Yes, ,and W9 feel we'rs designed 16 17 18 for it. We have --- with this new system operating, like I say, 19 we'V:9 had no expe:rienc9 with it yet to really --- w'e feel that 20 this amount of gas will he sufficient, but our instantaneous 21 22 discharge rate is almost twice that of the Grayling and the Dolly Vard,en. This is the design of the compressor; they're ( 23 bigqar, holdrrore gas at pressure. 24 HR. BURRELL: Are you sa.ying the reason th'8n 25 ' for --- the basi6 rsason perhaps for assassingthat the larger ~1 R Be R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 5' 277·4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 ( (' Page 49 1 ,flares and l~rger flared volum~ is the design of tha compr~ssors? ( 2 ~m. KELLER: Not the design of the compressors 3 per see ,It's just the entire system all t~gethar, we feel for 4 saf9ty reasons that \Ve ne'ed the two. 5 MR. BURRELL: I'd I ik,e t.o know why. Wha t 6 is the differenc~ batween the two systems that nscessitatês this 7 increas,ed volumre? 8 ~lR.KELLER: The engineering design of tha 9 total package, basically, is the reason we have more. 10 MR. BURRELL: Aria you saying there I s some- 11 thing wrong with the design? 12 MR. KELLER: No¡ sir, I'm not. This is jURt ( 13 a different design concept.¡ the way these two compressor sets M 'are designed, if we have an electrical failure or fuel fail~re 15 or somsthing, all t.he system' there in tha t packa~ge bleed s down 16 at once. 17 18 MR. BURRELL: But isrlt. that true on th,e other platforms such as the Dolly Varden? MR. KELLER: Not to the extent that this system is, and this is based on the dresign of these two com- 19 20 21 pressors the way they operate in this tandem condition where one 22 turbine drives two compressors and the way the module is built ( 23 of necas.sity has to be small to fit on the platform, but'.the system has to be down to be safe. 24 25 t-1R. . BURRELL: Well, you see my problem, it's ~1 R Be R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE S 277·47t3 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 9950t ( ( ( ~1 ( Page 50 ( 1 difficult to explain why with one-third of the gas production, 2 you nesd twice the flare? 3 MR. KELLER: Basically it's the discharge 4 rat·e and to dissipate the heat. This is our reason for it. 5 MR~ BURRELL: Do you think it'd be rÐasonable 6 ,to,have some kind of a trial period here, an actual historical 7 performance period to find out what is require before a final 8 order on this matter? 9 MR. KELLER: I think particularly in the case of the Monopod it vrerywell could be. 10 11 MR. BURRELL: Thank you v/~ry much, Hr. 12 KelleJ;. Anymore questions?' Thank you, sir. 13 MR. ANDERSON: Mr. Keller, 14 MR. BURRELL: You will be available later, 15 will you, sir? Excuse ms. 16 MR. KELLER: Yes, sir. 17 MR. ANDERSON: On your Monopod Exhibit A, 18 was that prepared under your direction? 19 MR. KELLER: Yes, sir. 20 MR. ANDERSON: We I'dlike Honopod'..Exhibi t Þ.. to 1: incorporated in ··the record. 21 22 ,MR. BURRELL: ~œ' 11 enter into ,evidence Hono- 23 pod Exhibit A. 24 MR. ANDERSON: Our next witness is Mr. B. C. 25 Anderson of Atlantic Richfiald Company. Mr. Anderson was qualifia< R & R COURT REPORTERS 8215 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE ~ 277·4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 ( ( ( ~l ( Page 51 ~' 1 at y:estsrday I.S hearing by incorporation of his qualifications 2 pres2nted in Conserva.tion Order No. 83. He ask that they ba 3 accepted here. 4 MR. BURRELL: They are accepted. 5 MR. ANDERSON: As I pointed out earlier, 6' Mr. Chairman, Mr. Anderson.wil1 be testifying on tha King Salmon 7 platform, HcArthur Riv,sr Field; after which h,e will then go to 8 the Platform A and Platform Spark in the Trading Bay Northeast 9 Pool. 10 MR. B. C. ANDERSON: Gentlsmen, I am B. C. 11 Anderson. I am the District Engineer for Atlantic Richfield 12 Companyls South Alaska District, headquartered hare in Anchorage. 13 Atlantic Richfield Company operates Platform King as a subopera- 14 tor in the Trading Be"y unit of HcArthur River Field. Exhibit 15 Ona shows th8 loca:tion of this platform in r,:elationto the other 16 platforms: in th9 field, th,e outline of ths field based on the 17 approximate productive limits, and the Trading Bay Onshore 18 production Facility.. We III have to find anoth:er way, I think, to see the whole exhibit. 19 20 Platform King production comes fro11l ten wells with twelve completions in the G, Wast Forelands and Hamlock Pools. Daily 21 22 production is 26,500 barrels of oil per day, 2200 barrels of 23 water per day, and 8500 mcf psr day of gas. A rotative gas lift 24 system provid9s 23,000 mcf per day of high pressure gas for 25 artificial lift purposes. ,Approximately 70,000 barrels per day R Be R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !S 277·4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 ( !( ( ~1 ( ( Page 52 1 of filtered and treated Cook Inlet watsr is injected in four 2 wells on the platform as a part of the field's water flood pro- 3 gram. 4 Platform King has two enclosed dsck lev;ls, maasuring 5 approximately 110 f~2t squ~re. Referring to Exhibit Two, equip- 6 'ment on the platform includes oil and gas saparation ~quipment. 7 I want to get these slides here so he can point these out. 8 (Pause) Excuse the delê.Y. Equipment on the platform includes 9 oil 'and gas separation equipment, two 2,125 horsepovver Horthing- 10 ton mainliner compressors, one 1100 horsepower Solar York centri- 11 fugal compressor, one 6,000 horsepower Nordberg turbine powered 12 water injection pump with related water filtering equipment and 13 deaeration tower, t\..¡o 1250 K~~ electric gt-2;ncrators powered by 14 ~ Rustin turbines, t,.¡o 1500 KN generators driven by General r,lotors 15 diesels for rig power and standby, one 350 horsepower boiler, and a variety of other related producing and drilling equipment. 16 17 Normal, manpO'~..¡er on the platform without rig operation is about 18 twenty-five people.. 19 The flare system en PlatfofID King consists of three flare lines: a twelve inch low pres~ure flare handles gas flashed from the first stage suction scrubbers of the Worthington mainliner 20 21 22 compressors and oxygen enriched gas from the d~aeration tower. 23 The main flare system or high pressure flare system is a twenty- 24 four inch flare boom that handles gas relieved from the system 25 ' beb~een the oil and gas separators and the compressors. This R & R COURT REPORTERS 82.i5 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE i5 277.4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 ( (' f Page 53 1 system provides the primary relief in the event of a surge in 2 production, compressor shu~down, electric power failure, ar other 3 upset in'the facilities. A third twelve inch line ties into the 4 pressure relief valve and rupture ~iscs system throughout the 5 production facility. A John Zink cle2..n burning flare tip 6 ins~alled on the high and low pressure flares is designed so that 7 the burners on these ~wo flare systems are separated by several 8 feet at the end of the flare boom. Proper operation of these 9 clean burning flare tips requires the use of aspirator gas 10 equivalent to about thirty per cent of the total flared volume 11 at minimum safety pilot conditions. 12 ( As the description of the King platform and its equipment 13 indicates, pla.tforms in the Cook Inlet wat.ers are extremely 14 complex and rather unique in design. They are relatively small, 15 compact platforms and are heavily laden with equipm~nt. The 16 equipmßnt is quite reliable, but any equipment is subject to 17 18 19 20 21 22 ( 23 24 25 I ~1 failure. Due to the climatic, conditions, platforms, in the Inlet are almost fully enclosed. This is som,swhat different from the normal open design for mos~ other offshore areas. Extensive measures must be taken to prevent dangerous concen- tr~tions of gas in enclosed platform areas to minimize the accompanying risk of fire or explosion on a platform. The uniqua conditions in the, Cook Inlet, also require that many systems which are separat-ad where conditions permit are in this cass all contain2d on a common platform. It is common practicß in R & R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE IS 277-47t3 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 9950t ( ( ( ~1 ( ~I Page 54 1 other areas to have separation equipm9nt, comprsssors, and firsd 2 vessels separated. Safs~y features must be quite extensive to 3 protect lif9 and property in any offshors operations. Th9re are 4 obviously some special consid~rations for the Cook Inl~t type of 5 opera.tion. ,6 provisions must be mads for the safe release of gas when 7 thar9 ar~ surg~s in production \~hich cannot be otherwise handled 8 or when there are shutdowns dus to machanical or elsctrical 9 failuras. Production surg~s are especially common in gas ,lift 10 operations. The special considera.tions discuSS3d make it neces- 11 sary that all pressure release of gaseous vapors be gathered and I 12 carried to a rsmote flare forccmplete combustion in order to 13 protact th9 platform, its occup2.nts and equipm~nt. Th~ minimum 14 safety pilot volume is undoubt~dly r~latsd to many factors, 15 including but not 1imi t,s.d t.O 'equipm~nt compl:exi ty, total syst::=m 16 d~sign, system volumes, and flo~.g rates handled; how'9v~r, thara is 17 nO,prscedant or gsnerally accepted engineering procedur~ for 18 establishing a minimum safety pilot size for operations having 19 ths uniqu9 design and operating conditions of the Cook Inlet 20 ' pla~:.:forms. Tha minimum vo1U11lS must ensure tha.t a pilòt will ha 21 m~intained during variabl9 wind conditions and provida positive 22 ~ ignition of any suddsn release of gas caused by an upset or a 23 failure \vhich brings about an exc~ssiv? pressur':e in any system. 24 Our reconul1snd-ad minimum safety pilot size is bas,ad on tha 25 judgment of exp=.rienced op'erating personnel who are thoroughly R & R COURT REPORTERS 82S WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITES 277·4713 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 99501 (" ( ( ~1 (' Page 55 ( 1 familiar wit4 the daily op~raticns of this platform. It also 2 gives full consideration to the naed for minimum flara volumss 3 from pl~~forms in th~ Inlet under Existing Conservation Corr~ittêe 4 Orders. On this basis W~ r~commend a safety pilot volume for 5 King platform of 800 rncf,per day on a monthly average ba.sis. 6 Exhibit #3 shows a sch~matic drawing --- (pausa) --- 7 Exhibit # 3 shows a schematic dra.wing of Platform King IS facili ti,es 8 with gas volumes for òparation under minimum safety pilot con- 9 ditions. Under these operating conditions, 31,94.0 mef par day 10 of gas is flashed from the oil and gas separators. This ,velum::&. 11 includes gas lift gas, solution gas, flash of liquids from all 12 scrubbers throughout the system operating at a higher pressure, 13 and flashed gas from the crud!s surg'e tank. Gas from the crud:~ 14 surge tank is not n'ow being comprsssed and put back into the 15 Inlet gas stream, but we plan to convert an existing compressor 16 on the platform to this service.' The minimum safety pilot 17 vol~~e of 800 mcf par 'day is shown on this diagram. The remaining 18 produc;~d gas from the separators, tota.lling 31,140 mcf per day, is delivered to the suction of the compressors. 7,140 mcf per 19 20 da~t'. of this gas goes to the Solar York booster compr·essor which 21 discharges at about 300 psig. 3500 mcf per day of the gas from 22 the booster compressors goes to the fuel systam. This includes 23 gas used, for the Rustin turbine powered g:enerators, the Nordberg 24 turbine which drives the water ~njection pump, the Solar turbine powered compressor, the steam generation ,equipm'ent, boilers, 25 R & R COURT REPORTERS 8215 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE IS 277·4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 (' ( ( ~1 { (' Page 56 1 filter flàsh; and de aeration for removal of oxygen from injèctad' 2 water. Fuel for the Worthington compressors is being suppliad by 3 gas ''lell gas due to detona.tion and maintenance problems that have 4 been experienced with casinghead gas fU9l. We ars currently 5 working with Worthington representatives in an effort to modify 6 the Worthington. fuel system so that these compr'essors will also 7 operate satisfactorily from the casinghead gas fuel system. The 8 remaining 3,640 mcf per day of gas discharg<ad from the Solar York 9 compressor will bE delivered to shore to be pròcessed by th;e Trading Bay Production FAcility Liquid Extraction Plant and 10 11 subs,equently compressed for delivery to the gas pipeline now 12 being constructed by Union and Marathon. 13 Referring back to the compressor suctions on Exhibit #3, 14 24,000'mcf per day of gas from th~primary separators is dalivsred 15 to the two Worthington mainlin,er compressors .T,hese compressors 16 sarve the rotativa gas lift system. The suctfon volume is 17 reduced by 1200 mcf per day due to shrinkage from condansation 18 in the compression process~ The remaining 22,800 mef per day of 19 gas discharged from these compressors is returned to the gas lift 20 system. 21 22 In summary, I ~ave discussed the highly complex, compact and enclosed conditions that make Cook Inlet platforms unique. 23 24 Although the equipment onboard King platform is capabla of theor- 'a tic ally handling all produced casinghead gas without a flare, 25 ths unique nature of the platform makes it essential that a R 8c R COURT REPORTERS 8215 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE--SUITE !S 277-4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 ( ( ( ~1 ( Page 57 ( 1 saf,ety pilot bs mainta.ined for safe operations. To provide this 2 safety the pilot must ensure positive ignition of any sudd~n 3 rel-aass of gas to th~ flare system. ~\19 found no precsdent or 4 commonly accepted engineering pr=.ctic'B for calculating a minimum 5 safðty pilot size for the unique Cook Inlet type of operation. 6 Our recommend~d minimum saf~ty pilot size is a balance of the 7 judgm~nt of our operating personnel who are most familiar with 8 the platform and the recognized necessity for minimum flare 9 volumes for platforms in the Cook Inlet undar sx~sting Conser- 10 vation CCl1'lmit'tsa orders. Atlantic Richfield Company respectfully 11 requ3sts the assignment of a safety pilot volurne of 800 mef per 12 d~y en an avaragz monthly basis for ths King Sêlmon platform. 13 Th5.t concludss my direct bestimony. Thank you for your 3..tt.snt.icn. 14 ~lR. BURRELL: Thank you, ~·lr. And'8rson. 1iJ~ 'II 15 ask you about this platform before. you go on to th'e oth'èrs you' r'2 16 speaking to. Mr. Gilbreth? 17 HR. GILBRETH: Hr. Andsrson, referring to 18 your Exhibit #3, the safety pilot strength of 800 mcf per day, 19 I notice you also have a low pressure flare there ,showing 500 20 mef psr day. Is that a continuous flare? 21 HR. B. C. ANDERSON: Yes, sir. That is gas 22 that has b:e~en used ~n ths deaeration process. I '11 be glad to 23 go into th~ deaa~ation process for you and discuss that in soma 24 'detail if you'd like. 25 MR. GILBRETH: Well, my question is this: R 8c. R COURT REPORTERS 82!!1 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE IS 277·4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 ( (' ,Page 58 1 are we r2ally talking about 800 or 1,300,000? 2 MR. B. C. ANDERSON: Well, our --- our fêelin~ ( 3 here was that the gas that is handled in the deasration proc3ss 4 --- 1st me start by explaining how this process works because 5 that'll give mora people a feel forth~ system. But this d2asra- 6 tion process is for the removal of oxygen from the water that will 7 be injected into ths formation. The water Is taken from the Cook 8 Inlet which has a high oxygen content. We mus,t remove the 9 oxygen for two reasons·: one, it is very carrasi va; and sé9;condly, 10 it causes the gro\vth of bactaria which will plug the surface 11 equipm~nt as well as the wells downhole. So we use gas through 12 this tow',er. tvat;sr is introduced, at the top of tha tow:;;r, runs ( 13 down through trays, and thesa trays have bubble caps in thsm to 14 ,let the gas bubble, up through the water and strips the oxygen 15 out. Any oxygen that is left in the water has_to then be removed 16 by an oxygen scavaging chemical, so ws get it essentially oxyg.en 17 free,. So w:a have looked at it like this: we fe,el that the 18 gas used in the deaeration process is a used gas; it does go 19 through our fuel meter; it has been our practice and wa feel that "'20 --- felt that ìt was appropriàt.e that this gas he shown as a fuel 21 since it is used gas, rathert.han a flare. We purposaly showed 22 it on this diagram to bring it to your attention in case you 23 should feel otherwise. Our legal people told us that they felt that under their interpretation that the gas was used and should ( 24 25 be called a fuel. So we have handled it in this manner.' If the ~1 R Sc R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE IS 277-4713 ANCHORAGE,ALASKA 99501 ( I '( ( ~1 f ( Page 59 1 Cornmittes feels otherwis~, than our total flare voluma would b9 2 1300 mcf per day. 3 MR. GILBRETH: Now, did I un~srstand your 4 testimony to indicate that the point in which this flaring occurred 5 is two different places, a few feet apart? 6 MR~ B. C. ANDERSON: That's correct. I have 7 a slide, a back up slide if you'd like to sae it, that shows 8 the John Zink clean,burninç(,flare tip, and the tips of those 9 two burners there, thosa two flares, are separated in the John 10 zink design by a distance ,of about six feet. 11 MR. GILBRETH: On the low 'pressure flare, 12 the one with the 500 mcf a day, that's all that will ever com-= 13 through that side of it, is it not? 14 MR. B. C. ANDERSON: That's correct. That 15 is a continuous volume that will he going through there at all 16 timas that the dsaeration t,ow,ar is in operation. I bslieve that 17 I also said --- I think thare's some gas back on the previous diagram that's flashed off of the first stage' suction sc,rubbers 18 19 on 'the compressors,. This is a very small volume of liquid t.hat 's 20 caught in thoss, and is essentially zero, so the voluma thers is 21 the 500 from the deaeration tower. 22 MR. GILBRETH: Then the 500 is essentially 23 ind~pendent of emergency type operations; it would be going on 24 continuously? 25 ' MR. B. C. ANDERSON: That is correct. R & R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 5 277.4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 ( ( ( ~1 Page 60 (' ( 1 MR. GILBRETH: Is it possible to utiliz9 2 this 500 to h~lp kaep the pilot going on the em9rg~ncy flares? 3 MR. B. C. ANDERSON: The problem that we 4 encounter there is that of course they Ire not in the same 5 loc~tion which crsates some problem, and ths reason they're net 6 is ths design for the smokel~ss flare burning there, so this 11 7 creates a probl,em. If you were to p~t the two --- by some change in design if they could be put together where they burned in ons 8 9 common spot, then you'd still have a problem there that part of 10 your safety pilot is Qf course to ignite the gas that might cerne 11 out un~er a real shutdown op:eration, but as I pointad out in my 12 dirct~ct testimony" you also have --- in õi gas lift typa op~ration 13 which' I'm sura you're already farniliar with, you have surges as 14 Your 'equipm:ent is 8i tting therE? running ,the gas com~s back. ~I+ ......- 15 a set condition and handl:2s gas at a rathar constant voluma, 16 your compr'.essionequipment, so when these surges come, back from 17 the Úells, you have to have som,sthing to allow these variations 18 in gas to go out, and I think that if you combined thas$ volumss~ 19 you'd certainly have too little to take care of that type surge. 20 So } really don't fe,el personally that it is praè~icål to combins 21 the two. 22 MR. GILBRETH: If we could go back to your 23 Exhibit #2 for just a moment. 24 MR. B. C. ANDERSON: All right, sir. 25 MR. GILBRETH: You show in the upper lefthand R &: R COURT REPORTERS 82S WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE IS 277.4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 (' \( ( ~l paga 61 ( ( 1 corner of Exhibit #2 relief flare, and thsn ~ high prsssure 2 flare, and a low pr3ssur~ flare too. 3 MR. B. C. ANDERSON: Yss. 4 MR. GILBRETH: Do these actually repres3nt 5 thre9 separate flares I or is it jus,t the connection t.hat migh't go 6 into one flare boom?, 7 MR. B. C. &~DERSON: No, these actually go 8 all the way from the base of the boom to the top æ s,eparata lin~s. 9 The relief flare is ,a separate line and ties only into our 10 relief and rupture disc systems; this ensures us that there is 11 no back prsssure on that line due to any of the surges coming 12 out. And the high pr9ssure flare" I'd have to look back at my 13 ,testimony to make sure I don't confuse you and me both, but the 14 high pressure flare is the large boom; it's a twsnty-four inch 15 in di2.ro~t3r boom, and then it COffi:SS up to the end and goes throug~l 16 the John Zink ~ burner, and then the other line runs up by the 17 side of it, the other t,,,o lin'as. The twenty-four inch lin'&; is 18 actually --- it' ssvedgi3d do\.¡n to a smaller line when it comes to th'S burning end, and it provid,es both a minimum back pressure on that flare system as well as the structural strength t.hat's 19 20 21 necessary for the flare to be maintained at its angle. 22 MR. GILBRETH: Well, basically do you have 23 just the one flara boom or 24 MR. B. C. ANDERSON: That's correct. They 25 just run out on,e line and th:ey end at a common place. R & R COU RT REPORTERS 82.15 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 15 277·4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 ( ( 10 ( '18 <. ~1 P,age 62 ( ( 1 MR. GILBRETH: What aboùt your pilot thsra, 2 do you have a separat= pilot, or do you just burn from th~ main 3 lins? 4 MR. B. C. ANDERSON: No, there's no pilot 5 as such, insofar as a ling going out to provide pilot gas. The 6 pilot is actually gas that should b= burning continuously off of 7 the flare system, and it's th= low --- it's the low burner 8 pesi tion, if you please, and then \.¡h:en the surges corne, that 9 same fl2.m,~ vlill bE: ~nlarged to handle the larg,e volUI1l'a. MR. GILBRETH: What is the source of the 11 pilotgas; is it from the high pressure flare or th,e low pr¡=ssure 12 fla.re? 13 MR. B. C. ANDERSON: It would be from the 14 high pressure flare. as shewn on our other diagram b2Ck on #3 15 hers. 16 MR. GILBRETH: Okay. 17 HR. B. C. ANDERSON: The 800 mef, sge, comas out of the high pressur,e flare, see, the lette~ring' righ t helo\., 19 tha 800 mef. 20 HR. GILBRETH: Oh, I see, yes. 21 HR. B. C. ANDERSON: And the low pressure 22 handles the dsaeration gas. 23 MR. GILBRETH: Within this high pressure flar:?; 24 ralisf line or the high pressure flare lin'9 here, is there any 25 measurement made of the volum~ that goes through? R & R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !5 277·4713 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 99501 ( ( ( ~1 f Page 63 ( 1 MR. B. C. ANDERSON: No, sir, th~re is not 2 a direct m~asurement¡ it is done by a gas balance¡ th~re is no 3 mgasurem~n~, no orifice m9ter or anything of ~hat type on tha 4 line becausa of th~ restric~ion that it would cause, and I might 5 elaborate a little on that. There's been soma discussion of 6 that in other. testimony. If Wß were to put a restriction in th-e 7 line and sst it so that it could mgasur,e the pilot flara volUJ."1ls, 8 th~n the orifice plats size opening would be pretty small and 9 of courS9 it wouldn~t measur~ th~ large ,flàre volume, 'you just 10 couldn't have th~ rang9¡ plus a small size to handle the pilot 11 volume to IDaasur,e it would represent quite a restriction in tha 12 ovarall line. 13 MR. GILBRETH: Your design is such 'th3.t onC8 14 you get the remsrg;ency condition, 'svsrything is thrown \vid.e opan 15 to the flare, is that right? 16 NR. B. C. ANDERSON : That's corr'sct:. '~'¡h :~n 17 an emèrgency condition comes, it just pops right:, to thr8 flare.' 18 Of courS9 it d09S have a valve on the c0ntrol lins; it senses 19 on tha prassure; it dOBsn't just necessarily just open it up, 20 you~ow, at the fi~st littla upset. It tends to maintain a 21 stablg pressure in th9 system. 22 HR. GILBRETH: I b:eli,ev,e that answars my 23 qusstions. Thank you, sir. 24 MR. BURRELL: Mr. Marshall? 25 11R. HARSHALL: Hr. Anderson, you mentione:d R & R COURT REPORTERS 8215 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 15 277.4113 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 99301' (' ( ( ~1 ( pag'8 64 1 th~t you did.have a slide th~t showed the datail of th~ John 2 zink clsan burning flare. I'd like to see that if you --- 3 MR. B. C. ANDERSON: Fine. Would you put 4 that slid; up there. (Pauss.) Is that clear 9nouqh there? The 5 6 MR. MARSHALL: That1s batter. 7 HR. B. C. ANDERSON: Okay. The lower line 8 thsre of courss is the relief line which ti~s into our so-called 9 pressure relief valv:Bs and our ---. or pop valv,es, they're commonly called --- and our ruptur~ discs; and it has a turn on the end of it thsre that puts it out over the end of your main 10 11 12 burn,er. Th:e twenty-four inch fl3.re is your main high pressurs 13 flare coming out, and then there's quite a bit of design in tha 14 flare tip itself. This aspirator gas which is taken off the 15 System and actually jets the gas out so it ,can draw oxygen and 16 gat complete combustion. And then the low pr:essure flare, a tw:alvs 17 inch line over there, is actually tipped to one side in the desig~ 18 and this then is very similar in design to the main burnar, but 19 this is for the low pressur,s system. That's where your deaeratio:1 20 gas will be coming out. And the --- I'm not sure that 'th3.t drawing is to scale; it perhaps is, but in looking at the datail drawing on that when we made up the slide, as I recall correctly, 21 22 23 looking from the edge of the low pressure flare pipe Qv:ar to the or ' edge of the burner on the high pressure/main flare there was six 24 25 fast from just ths edge of the pipe to edge of the pipe, not R &R COURT REPORTERS 8215 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 15, 277-4713 ANCHORAGE,ALASKA 99501 ( <. ( ~1 ( (" pags 65 1 centsr to can~~r. If you have any particular ques~ions, I'll be 2 glad to try to answer them; I'm not sure I can. 3 MR. MARSHALL: Are you satisfied t.'lith the 4 smokeless aspect, the efficiency of the smok9lass aspect of t.h~ 5 flar~s? 6 HR. B. C. ANDERSON: Tha.t's a --- not at the 7 prasant time, no. We paid about $125,000 to install that fIara 8 tip, and we are having some difficulties with vIe'rs right ..a. .:L .... . 9 now have had the John Zink man out as wall as people out of· 10 our general engineering departm,snt in Dallas who ware involved 11 in th~ design, and thsy have taken pictures of the tip and are 12 discussing some of the problems that wa are having with it right 13 now in 'hopes of finding t.he solution to that problem. That 14 particular flare tip design was sslected because we anticipated 15 a ~lide range of burning, let's say from our minimum pilot con- 16 ditions on up to the conditions wher'9 you might have an ups-et, 17 and from th9 information wa gathered this was the only tip we 18 could find that would cover the total range smokeless, and so 19 we doaxpect certainly to gat the tip --- for that tYP'3 of 20 investment --- êxpect to get it to where it does s~ti~fy us. 21 At the presant tima, though it doešn't. 22 HR. BURRELL: Mr. Anderson, you said 8,500 23 mcf par day? 24 MR. B. C. ANDERSON: That is th9 --- that's 25 the formation gas, and of course if you want to add the total gas R & R COURT REPORTERS 8215 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !5 277-4713 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 99501 Page 66 ,( ,( ( 1 in the systê~, --- 2 MR. BURRELL: Right. ( 3 MR. B., C. ANDERSON: --- we could hav~ 4 23,000 mcf par day of gas lift gas that is rotated in the 5 syst~m. 6 MR. BURRELL: Y2ah. And you propose to .7 flare som2 one million-three mcf? 8 MR. B. C. ANDERSON: If the Committee chooses 9 to --- 10 MR. BURRELL: Yeah. 11 MR. B. C. ANDERSON: ---combine the deaeratìo~ 12 gas with the ath~r, that is correct. ( 13 MR. BURRELL: (In~udible). There's quite 14 ,a variance h9ra, as I have discussed be.fore with th,a other pl:.t- forms. At least it would s,e:em to me th-er~, ' s qui t,e a va.ri:tnc~ 15 16 here b~twe'~n the amount of gas b,eing flar:~d in an em:erg:9ncy 17 situation. 18 MR. B.', C.' ANDERSON: Thera is soms variance, 19 yes. 20 ,MR. BURRELL: Yeah. You stat,ed your prabl,em 21 was, as I understand it, there's some equipment and soms work to 22 be done to install this 'equipment. Do you see any rr6al problêrt1 23 with so~e kind of a historical period hera of seeing how things ( . 24 go be fora setting a monthly averaga p2rh~þs? 25 MR. B. C. ANDERSON: I --- ~1 R' Be R COU RT REPORTERS 82!5 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !5 277.4713 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 99501 ( ( Page 67 1 l,lR. BURRELL: Your nlli'11bsr is a ma.ximw1, is (' 2 it n~t? 3 HR. B. C. ANDERSON: Ne, it is not. 4 MR. BURRELL: Your 800 --- 5 MR. B. C. AHDERSON: iJc, our numb,~r is 6 MR. BURRELL: --- is not a m~ximum? 7 MR. B. C. ANDERSON: No,' sir. I don't 8 belisve that I could --- the way we approachad this thing was 9 lik3 this: we recognize ,that due to surges in the system thsra 10 ara going to bs timss this thing is '. continually varying" E.nd S0 11 we sought what w~s thought it would taka on anavarage for th'8 12 month on a daily rate averaga for the month, so thara will ba ( 13 _ varia'tions around th3.t particular number, but the number \..¡e' ra 14 ~sking for is 800' mcf per day on a monthly average basis for 15 the high pressure system. 16 MR. BURRELL: But your high prsssurs system 17 would flare more 'than that 18 MR. B. C. ANDERSON: It would have to flare 19 mars. than that on ·an instantaneous type basis I' whenever a. surge 20 ce:.m3 back, a well head'sd, . or the gas lift system --- 21 MR. BURRELL: Or a strong wind? 22 MR. B. C. ANDERSON: The wind would c=rtainly ( 23 affe~t it, but our number hare is for --- is to me~t any weather 24 condi tions sinc9 we wouldn't' expect to be abla to t:ell our 25 field psoplethat, wall, the wind's down, cut tha fIara back. ,~1 R & R COURT REPORTERS 8215 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE :I 277·4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 ( ~f Page 68 1 Weirs looking for somethi~g we think we can live with day in ~nd (' 2 day cut on an average basis. 3 MR. BURRELL: Bu~ this 800 then, you would 4 probably flQre mora than that on csrtain days? 5 MR. B. C. ANDERSON: On certain days, that 6 is correct. 7 MR. BURRELL: Othsr days less? MR. B. C. ANDERSON: Other days less, that's 8 9 correct .' 10 MR. BURRELL: Thatls all I have. Mr. Gil- 11 brsth? 12 ,MR. GILBRETH: Hr. Anderson, in the early '( 13 part of your tastimony you came out with a figure something like, 14 thirty psr cent of, the gas produced went t.o your pilot or SOffie- 15 thing; what was that thirty per cent? 16 MR. B. C. ANDERSON: That was --- how about 17 going back to slide two, if you would, 'please. The de aeration 18 --- pardon me --- yes --- th'e aspirator gas· which \ve I ve callsd 19 thirty per cent, that thirty per cent applies only to the minimum 20 flare position or 800 mef per day. I believe if you can follow 21 the line there, come back down just a little bit. This is --- 22 at this point right h~re that he has on the drawing is where ( 23 our gas comes off of our system between the separators and the 24 compressors and goes into the knock out drum; if you can follow 25 . tha line on up, well, this would go on out to the flars. Follow ~1 R Be R COURT REPORTERS 8215 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE IS 277.4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 (' ( ( ~1 -( i' (, Page 69 1 it on ùp, wa ·take gas off of that for the aspirator gas, and 2 that thirty per cent is what we're taking off. Now, you'rs 3 actually ~-- there's a graph; we have a graphical type prasen- 4 tation; I do not have a slide of this; that shows the aspirator 5 gas goes up as the amount flared goes up, but it is not a constan~ 6 per cent. It is a straight lin'e, but it starts at som~thing 7 other than z,aro since 'you have to hav,e som9thing at. the> starting 8 point. But just for 8xample, lat me give you a figura her~ on 9 the total flared gas, let's say aspirated and main flare; if I 10 was flaring atsorne rate ,at, a period of time of ten million cubic 11 fe1et per' day or 10,000 mcf per day if w? ~'Vant to stay in the same 12 units, it would raquire something like, oh, a little over one 13 million cubic fe~t p~r day of aspirator gas, so the thing does 14 vary. Whatw8 did, we took the 800,000, read what it would take 15 in that, thirty per cent at that point, but it cannot baextrapo12:!.:.: 16 directly. 17 MR. GILBRETH: All right. We havs heard 18 testimony from the other witnesses this morning on an instantan90us 19 rate under emergency conditions. Have you calculated or deter- 20 min~d an instantaneous rate for your platform? 21 MR. B. C. ANDERSON: I did not approach the. 22 probl~m from that --- from that m9thod. I think we recognize too 23 that part of the design or part of the factors that affect what 24 your minimum flare siz,e should be ars certainly the system velum; I 25 and the rate going into it, and I think I listed about four things, R Be R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !S 277·4713 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 99501 { ,( Page 70 1 the system d~sign, and you of CQurss could ta.ke that syste.m and ( 2 say zero at the end of the flare tip and corne back and look at 3 your ~otal volum~ in input and c~lcula~e what your instantansous 4 rat~ would b: with no back prsssura on th~ and and what your 5 prsssurB drops ar~ and gat an instan~an2ous unloading rata if ths 6 ,thing was to suddsnly pop. Ne didn't approach ..... from that Ÿ/3..Y; ~\¡.. you could probably look a,t our' total gas cycle volum3s and gat. 7 8 some h3.ndl e' on it ,in comparison to tha other psopl,s i howsvar, it's , 9 not tctally just that; you'd have to also look at the tot~l syst~m 10 t.hat you hav.e, and ~'lhat that you have tra.pped, which is a part of 11 it as wall as the, rata flo\ving into it at any given point in tims. 12 But as ê.. ballpark type number, that'd be ona way. We ha. v,s not ( 13 calculat3d; we could havs that done. 14 HR. GILBRETH: That's all I have. rrhank you" 15 Mr. Anderson. 16 MR. BURRELL: Thank you, Mr. Anderson. Do 17 you want to move onto another platform? 18 MR. B. C. ANDERSON: Yes. 19 MR. A.l~DERSON: Hr. Anderson, I" d lika t:.o ask 20 you whether King platform Exhibi ts # 1 through # 3, tog'ether with 21 the plan visw of the John 'Zink smokeless flare tip were 22 prepared by you or under your direction? ( 23 MR. B. C. ANDERSON: Y'6S, sir, they wer'6. 24 MR. ANDERSON: We ask that the King Exhibits I 25 #1 through #3, together with the plan visw of the John Zink ~1 R 8c R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE--SUITE 5 277·4713 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 99501 ( ( ( ~1 ( ( Page 71 1 smokeless flare tip be introduc~d into evidsncs. 2 MR. BURRELL: Could ws label the John 3 Zink on~ 'Exhibit #4? 4 MR. ANDERSON: Yes. 5 MR. BURRELL: Exhibit #4, and could we hays 6a copy of that? 7 HR.. ANDERSON: Yes. We can make that avail- 8 able to hand in. 9 'MR. B. C. ANDERSON: I can make it avai labl,£ 10 just by (unintelligible). (Pause. ) 11 HR. BURRELL: Thank you v,ery much, sir. 12 MR. B. C.ANDERSON: Excuss me, are you rea.dy 13 for --- 14 MR. BURRELL: Procead. 15 MR. B. C. ANDERSON: 11m still the sarna B. C. 16 Anderson; I have the same job, I think. Atlantic Richfield 17 Company operates Platforms 'A' and Spark in ths Trading Bay Field. -....- Exhib~t 1 shows the location of th:ese pla.tforms in relation to 18 19 the other platform in the fi,eld, ths outline of the unitized 'G' 20 and Hemlock Northeast Oil Pool's productive limit, and the Granite 21 Point Onshore production facilities. (Mr. Anderson's testimony 22 is attached as an axhibit to .this transcript.) 23 MR. BURRELL: Thank, you, Mr. Anderson. Mr. 24 Gilbreth? 25 MR. GILBRETH: Mr. Anderson, you have a R Be R COURT REPORTERS 821S WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE IS 277-4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 (' .11 ( ( ~1 Page 72 ( (' 1 twsnty-four ~nch high pressure flare on Platform Spark, do you 2 not? 3 B.C. MR./ANDERSON: That's correc~. 4 MR. GILBRETH: And didn't you tsstify in the 5 case of the King ~h~t you had a twen~y-fcur inch flare lina also? B.C. MR./ANDERSON: Yes,' sir, that's correct. 6 7 Now, these flare lines are svledged down to a much smaller SiZð 8 at the snd. As I pointed out before, their primary purpose for being that size is £or structural strength, and also that since 9 10 . the lin9 is th~re and sealed and they can come into it on ons end and out on the other, it creates no back pressure. The flare 12 boom on Platform 'A t, I do not hav,e an exact measurement i I 13 looked at it, and I would say it's about eighteen inches in 14 diarn~ter, and gas is not passed through that boom; the lines 15 run up the side instead. 16 a MR. GILBRETH: The --- there is/consid2rable 17 difference in' the volume that you r'6conunended here for the pilot 18 b'etw:ssn the two.· Does this again come back to the equipment 19 onboard and the emergenby situations that ,would arise from this? B.C. MR.1ANDERSON: Yes, sir, that is porrect. 20 21 Comparing Platform 'A' with Platform Spark, Platform lA' has 22 three wells that operate with a Reda or subm'ersible pump, so 23 thers ar~ only thrse w91ls on gas lift, \.¡hich gives us very 24 little gas lift on that platform. On Platform Spark it is a 25 totally gas lifted operation, and handles quita a bit more gas R Be RCOURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 15 277-4713 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 99501 ( ( Page 73 1 and so this ~s primarily the difference in the thing is your g=s ( 2 volums handled. 3 MR. GILBRETH: Okay. Could you briefly t~ll 4 us what th9 differ=nc~ in the volumg you recomm~nd b9twesn ths 5 King and the Spark is? 6 HR. B. c. ANDERSON: Well, once again thers is a larger va I urn,e handled on Platform King, quits a bit larger than either Platform Spark or Platform 'A' , and there's quite a 7 8 9 bit mor,e oil produced as a daily rate there. Of courS,2; I don't 10 consider it as directly a straight line relationship. Thara some- 11 thing that requires a. -~- som,s part of it requir',=s th:s minimum 12 size to keep the, thing burning; there's some part of it requires ( 13 wh3.t. 'ara your surg'9s that you ha.V3 in your systßnl which ti£:s 14 back to the ,volumes processed, the confined volume you may have to 15 releas:s and this typa of thing, so I feal tha.t thsy are compa:'.:.ibl i.:..:;. 16 Oncs again, our recommendation is based on judgm3nt; it's based the 17 on judgment which is built from ~experience in op9rating/platforIas 18 ,and 'hõ.ving flaJ;8s blown out under some situations, and in the 19 case of Platform 'A' and Platform Spark, having operated th'ere 20 with very low flare volumes for soma period of time, and so it's 21 that type of thing that's built in our r'8cornm:endations and not an 22 engineering calculation. ( 23 MR. GILBRETH: And you've actually experienced 24 it there, haven't you~ (' 25 MR. B. C. ANDERSON: In Platforms 'A' and ~1 R & R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 5 277-4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 (' :( 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 ( 23 24 25 ' ~1 ( Page 74 ( 1 Platform Spa.rk, \v~ 'va oparatsd r:luch of tha tirn: vary naar thes~ 2 v~lums, 2.nd Pla.tform Spark '\vs buy gas, if ýou :--- -, 3 MR. GILBRETH: \~at happsns if you run in~o 4a deficiency there? Do you bring in m~ka up g~s for your pilot 5 volum9? 6 MR. B. C. ANDERSON: Well, it's not exactly 7 ---it doesn't come in for the pilot volume, but it --- in ,sffsct 8 ~.¡è feal strongly enough about the ne,ed for ths safety pilot that 9 say on Platform Spark whare ws arê alr,eady rats d,efici,snt that 10 wa do flara a volume in the order of what we!.re talking .about 11 here, and at the same time we are buying gas from ~ha Mobil-Union 12 supply that comes from the Granite Point Field on this contact 13 'tV'hichI spoke about yesterday a.nd also a little bit in my tasti- 14 'many hers today. So this gas do'es corns into our system and goas into the fuel system and enables us to maintain a safety pilot. MR. GILBRETH: In other \vords, you' rs actually paying 'in some cases for gas you're flaring for the safety pilot? MR. B. C. ANDERSON: Not diractly, but in net \V'ise we do. Ne US'9 ana gas for one purpos:e a.nd flara another, but we're not buying gas and then running it out the flare and flaring it, but it MR. GILBRETH: Just as a matter of curiosity, I ,\V'onder, the oxygen enriched gas that you get, does this burn as well or hetter than just normal unstripped casinghead gas? R Be R COURT REPORTERS 828 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !5 277-4713 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 99501 ( ( ( ~1 { ( Page 75 1 HR. B. C. ANDERSON: Yes. I don't think 2 thera's any real differenc~; so far as I know --- 3 MR. GILBRETH: Can 'you ~~ll the diffsrence 4 when they're burning? 5 MR. B. C. ANDERSON: --- th~re's no real 6 diffsrance in the way they burn. Of coursa the gas is going to 7 be saturë:.tad with water which most low pressure gasi9s ar'ê anyway 8 when they come off t~e saparator. 9 10 MR. GILBRETH: That's all I have. HR. BURRELL: " Hr. Marsha.ll? 11 !4R. MARSHALL: Mr. And:srson, did you mention 12 :the natura of the burning tip on Platform 'A' and Spark? Are 13 t.hes:e also the John Zink design? 14 HR. B. C. ANDERSON: No, the tips on Plat- 15 form 'A' and Spark are not John Zinke The tips on Platform 16 'A', the high pressure flare is a four inch line, and it's open 17 on the and; the low pr9ssure flare is a three inch line, and it 18 is op,en on the end. John.....,Zink tips have not bsen used th~r8. ~9 20 The Ringleman test for the srookel'sss flare ha.s been satisfactory on thes= low flare systems thers, so this is the r'sason we haven It On gon-e to that on the Platform 'A'. /Platform Spark our high pres- 21 22 sure flè..re system, : as I'v,a comm'ented before, is a twenty-four inch boom; it goes to an eight inch nozzle, and thisnozzl-s is shi·eldsd; and on the low pressur'e flare, it has a four inch lin2, I and it's open on th~ end with a shield; and the relief and ruptur:s 23 24 25 R Be R COURT REPORTERS 8215 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 15 277.4713 ANCHORAGE,ALASKA 99501 ( 10 11 12 ( 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 ( 23 24 25 ' ~1 ( pag¡a 76 1 disc flare i& a six inch lina, ~nd it is open on the end with a 2 shi9ld on Platform Spark. And for th~ same reason we haven't 3 install8d John Zink tips on t.hos=. 4 MR. MARSHALL: Thank you. 5 MR. BURRELL: You had 400 mcf par day, Mr. 6 Anderson, on 'A', and 600 mcf pgr day on Spark, on a monthly 7 averag,~basis? 8 MR. B. C. ANDERSON: That is correct, sir. 9 MR. BURRELL: Doss this represent a maximum which you think you'd n¡eed in case of an instantan'eous rsle;;.sa? MR. B. C. ANDERSON: No, sir"it does not. It's just as on thß King, it --- HR. BURRELL: S3-IDS as --- MR. B. C. A.t~DERSON: --- repres ants. our av'.erage si tuaticn, and --- MR. BURRELL: --- the King; your best guass as to a monthly average. HR. B. C. ANDERSON: And also on thë Sp2rk, the 600 does not includs the daaeration gas that comes ovar there, so I think 50 mcf on the cpsration there. MR. BURRELL: 50 roef on that~ MR. B. C. ANDERSON: Yes, I think the schema tic ShO~"lS it thera some;~.¡here. Yss, .~ ~- Just a sacond. is, on the bottom there. Sae the line coming over on Spark, coming out of the. dea·e.ration tc\.¡ar ov,ar there. R &R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE :I 277-4713 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 9950J ( (' .{ ( ( \ to ~ Page 77 1 MR. BURRELL: Do you think yoú'd minimiza ~hs 2 flaring in any way if you had bsttsr tips on those open linss? 3 HR. B. C. ANDERSON: No, sir, I do not. I 4 ,think this is strictly just for --- just for complete combustion 5 to get mor'S oxyg·en ther:e so it gets rid of the trail of smoka 6 that would come off of our --- 7 MR. BURRELL: You might minimiz~ the smoka 8 but not the gas? 9 MR. B. C. ANDERSON: The amount of the smoke, 10 they' r9 strictly for smoke and not for th'e amount of flare. 11 11R. BURRELL: I have no further questions, .12 thank you, Mr. Andarson. 13 l1R. ANDERSON: I'-1r. Anderson, were your 14 ,Exhibits #1 through #4 prepared by you or under your diraction? 15 MR. B. C. :~.NDERSON: Yes, sir, they were. 16 MR. 'ANDERSON: Mr. Chairman, wa ask that 17 Exhibits #1 through #4 which we'll designate as Platform 'A' and 18 Spark Exhibits #1 through 14 be introducsd into evidenca." 19 MR. BURRELL: We'll accept those into 20 evidence for the record, and if you raproduce the smaller copies, 21 we'll accept them~ They are copies of the bluélines, right? 22 MR. B. C. M~DERSON: That's correct. The 23 slides in all of my testimony ars exact reproductions off of the 24 blueline copy. 25 MR. BURRELL: Thank you, Mr. Andsrson. You ~1 R 8c R COURT REPORTERS 8215 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE :5 277·4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 ( ( 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 ( 24 25 ~1 påge 78 i: ~ 1 will bs available latar for further quastions? 2 MR. B. C. M1DERSON: Yes, sir, I will. 3 MR. BURRELL: Th~nk you. 4 MR. ANDERSON: Mr. Chairman, as I m~ntioned 5 earlier, we would like to at this time recall Mr. J. R. ßarb~r 6 who will testify concarning the West Foraland Production Facility, 7 otherwise known as the Trading Bay Production Facility, and the 8 siza of the safety pilot at that facility. 9 MR. BURRELL: We'll go off tha record for a 10 few minutes here while we change tapes. 11 (OFF THE RECORD) (ON THE RECORD) 12 13 MR. BURRELL: Waf II go back on ~1e record 14 ~ now. 15 MR. ANDERSON: You may proceed, Mr. Barbar. MR. BARBER: Okay. My name is John Barber. Marathon Oil Company's responsibilities . MR. ANDERSON: Could you spaak just a 1i ttl:e louder? MR. BARBER: Okay. Marathon Oil Company's re~ponsibilitias as a subopsrator in the McArthur River Field, Trading Bay Unit, includes not only the operation of the Dolly Varden Platform, but also the operation of the West Foreland Production Facility located on the west side of Cook Inlet as shown on my Exhibit #1 or the Pipeline Exhibit #2 from yesterday's R Be R COURT REPORTERS ·825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 5 277-4713 ANCHORAGE,ALASKA 99501 ( l ( ~1 (' Page 79 ( 1 testimony. 2 Oil and gas from th~ Dolly Vard~n, Grayling, King Salmon, 3 and Monopod platforms are processed through the West Foreland 4 'Production Facility. Approx~mats1y 130,000 barrels of oil and 5 51,000 mcf of gas will be processed at this facility aach day. 6 The basic equipment layout of the facility is illustrated 7 in Exhibit #4. The major ccmponsnts of this processing system 8 includ~ the Battery No. 1 oil treating unit, which is composed 9 of lins heaters, a flow splitter, heater treatgrs, and crude oil 10 storage tanks; ,the Battery No. 2 unit is essentially the sarns as 11 the No~ 1 unit, consisting of a flow splitter, hsater treaters, 12 and crude oil storage tanks. Tha gas handlirig complex includes the Liquid Extraction Unit ~nd the comprzssor station. Hydro- carbon liquids ars recover:.;¡d from'theproduc:ed gas in t.he'LEX 13 14 15 Unit and the residus gas will be compressed and transportad across 16 Cook Inlet to ,the Nikiski area. The quarters facilities for our 17 opsrating personnel are also shown on this exhibit. This faci- 18 lity contains complete living acconunodations for approximately 19 forty men. As stated 'previously, approximately 130,000 barrèls of oil and 51,000 mcf of gas will be processed at this facility each 20 21 22 day. A safety pilot is essential to the safe operation of this 23 facility'1ust as it is essential to the operation of producing 24 platfonls in the In1.et. HO\'l'8V,er , it is apparent. frem the,~xhibi t 25 that the operations 2.nd the physical location of theequipm'ent R Be R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 5 277.4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 ( ( ( ~1 ( pags 80 { 1 at tha W9st Por,eland product.ion Facili ~y is consid,~rably dif- 2 f'~r.ent from operations and 'equipm~nt plac·:sm::nt on product.ion 3 platforms in Ccok Inlet. 4 Process equiprnant2t this onshore facili~y is spread ~ut 5 over an arga of a.pproximately forty acres, whereas the aV9rag,2: total deck spaca on a platform in Cook Inlet is considerably 6 7 less than one acre. Being able to spread the process equipment 8 over a large area co~stitutes one reason that the necessary size of the safety pilot will vary fromcnshore to offshore. Bscauss 9 10 equipm'ent is spread out over a larga ar'za, as indicatså on ,th~ 11 Exhibit, th.e sudd;:sn gas surge resulting from a compressor shut- 12 dO\lJn is not nearly as pronounc3d a~; the West Forel2..nd Production 13 Facility as it is on the polly Varden platform. At the H:sst 14 Foreland Production Facility, there is considl~rable distanc:e 15 betw·sen the compr·essor station and the flare tip; consequently 16 the surge of gas expands through a greater volume prior to 17 exiting out the flare tip. As indicated on th,e :equipment plat, 18 a gas surge resulting from a compressor shutdown must travel. 19 through approximately t'(ÑO hundred and fifty fe,et of twelve inch 20 diameter pipe, on·e thousand fe·et of sixteen inch diam-st:er pipa, 21 and an eight f09t diameter liquid scrubber before rsaching th~ 22 flare tip. Expansion through this system greatly dampens the 23 initial gas surge. 24 Also ,at the ~vest Foreland Production Facility, the flare 25 tip is located over three hundred feet from any process equipment R Be R COURT REPORTERS 82!S WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !S 277-4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 ( ( Page 81 1 a.nd one thousand f'ß'êt from the personnel quarters. The addi'tional ( 2 distanc2 batween the flare tip and othsr facilities at the onshore 3 site graatly increases the chance that if any unburnsd hydrocarbo~ 4 gas is allowed to escape from the flare tip, it would dissipa-ta 5 below explosive limits before reaching a source of ignition. 6 In view of the operating conditions, equipnlent placemant, 7 and weather,eonditions at the Trading Bay Production Facility, 8 Harathon submits that tte volume up to 300 mcf per day is required ( 9 for an adequate safety pilot. live testified as to why we feel 10 tha safety pilot at the West Foreland Production Facility does 11 not require as great a' volume of gas as the one on the platform. 12 The question might now arise as to why we feel that 300 mef per 13 da.y is required. 14 I've quoted the large volumes of oil and gas that is 15 handlsd at this facility. When we complete our compressor 16 station expansion, we will have approximately 10,000 horsepowar 17 of compriession at this facility, which on a complete, shutdown 18 could be releas,ed out the flare tip. W,s have nin~3 heater treabers; 19 we havre three line heaters and t~.,o flow splitters as part of our 20 process equipment. This could all relieve in the flare also. 21 22 Ne have ths LEX plant that could r'slieve in the flar,e. So we do submit that 300 is required for the onshore production facility. ( 23 Now, this conclud~s my prepared testimony; lid be happy to att~mpt 24 to answsr any question~ that you might have. 25 MR. BURRELL: Thank you, Mr. Barber. Any R ac' R cou RT REPORTERS 82~ WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE ~ 277-4713 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 99501 ~1 ( (' ( ( <. 10 11 ~~1 I (' ( paga 82 1 questions? 2 MR. GILBRETH: Mr. B~rb~r, your fl~re stack 3 at th9 ~'V:st For~land Facility, does it ,extend up into th3 a.ir? 4 MR. BARBER: Yes, sir. 5 MR. GILBRETH: It's not horizontal or --- 6 MR. BARBER: No, sir. It's in a'vertical 7 position. 8 MR. GILBRETH: Would thsre be lsss likelihood 9 of the flare going cut if it wer9 in a pit below ground' level, say? MR. BARBER: If it was in a pit below ground 12 lev'al? 13· MR. GILBRETH: Yes. .1 ask this because 14 Mobil had one this way for quite som'etime and it s:eemed to be 15 fairly satisfactory; I don't knew what their experience was. 16 MR. BARBER: Well, in the past ours was also 17 in a pit, and I can only say ws have flared much more than 300 18 to the pras9nt time at the facility, both when it was horizontal 19 and vertical, and 'tve have not ·exp;erienced any problzms si tiler W?~y 20 vli th it, so that's the only 'f.,ray I could a.nswsr thE. t. 21 HR. GILBRETH: It. is true; I guess, th~t 22 any gas that you ~oald flare at this point would be lost for sale 23 to the op~rators, wouldn't it? 24 HR. BARBER: It certainly would. 25 MR. GILBRETH: Lost for sale becaus'e it will R & R COURT REPORTERS 8215 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 15 277-4713 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 99501 ( '( ( ~1 { {" ( Page 83 1 hav2 a ligh~·in it? 2 HR. BARBER: Y~s, sir. \"le would a-:.tampt, 3 of course, to ks::p our safst.y pilot to a minimum. 4 HR. GILBRETH: I don't hava any ether 5 questions. 6 HR. BURRELL: Mr. Harshall, do you ha..ve z..ny 7 qU9s-::ions? 8 HR. HARSHALL: Yes. Mr. Barber, vlould you 9 describe the burner tip at the West Foreland Facility --- 10 MR. BARBER: The --- 11 MR. ~mRSHALL: --- or the flare stack? 12 MR. BARBER: Our burner tip, present burnar 13 tip, just from an obsarvation, is very similar to tha ana tha~ 14 you sa:~" projected for the King S~lmon Platform, \vithout the 15 siza flare on it; the main tW2nty-four inch flarE that you saw 16 projec'ted on the scrsen resemblasour flare tip at the \"¡'est 17 Foreland production Facility very much the sarna. Thsy are John 18 Zinke 19 MR. MARSHALL: They are John Zinke 20 MR. BARBER: The one that we have- and both 21 of them are John Zink tips. Mainly designed for smoks. 22 MR. !1ARSHALL: I have one little quðstion 23 about your Trading Bay Produc~::ion Fe..cili ty map hare. I presurn~ 24 that the sixt:sn inch flar8 line is --- is this a double lins 25 running under 'th9 words Battary Two? R Be R COURT REPORTERS 821S WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE IS 277·4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 ( ( ( ~1 ( (' Page 84 1 MR. BARBER: No. That is a single sixtean 2 inch flare line from the LEX plant to tha flare tip. 3 MR. ~ßRSHALL: I sae. And then tha~'s unifi;~ 4 with the flare line coming up from the compressor stations? 5 HR. BARBER: That is corr~ct, y=s. 6 MR. MARSHALL: Thank you. Another problsm. 7 our -,-- what --- ho\.¡ do you choose to --- perhaps you I ra going 8 to cover this, Hr.. Andsrson. Wa have Exhibit # 4 on our:. reduced 9 size exhibit here. 10 MR. ANDERSON: Yes. I propose to clarify 11 that.. 12 MR. Þ~RSHALL: That's all the questions I 13 have. 14 MR. BURRELL: I have no questions. 15 MR. ANDERSON.: Mr. Barber, did you refsr to 16 as this/Exhibit #41 17 MR. BARBER: Y~es, I d,id in my tes timony . 18 MR. ANDERSON: I think we --- 19 HR. BARBER: It was so numbered bscause I 20 planned to be on one time. 21 t-iR. ~rDERSON: Yes, we changed 'our ordar, Hr. 22 Chairman', and I \vould suggest that we change this -exhibit t-o 23 We~t Foreland #2 and Exhibit #2 at the Pipeline Hearing should 24 be West Forsland's Exhibit #1 here, and we shall furnish you with reduced copies of that axhibit. 25 R 8c R COURT REPORTERS e2.!5 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE S 277·4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA .99501 ( ( ( 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 " 18 19 20 21 22 ~1 Pag:a 85' ( (' 1 MR. BURRELL: Weill acc~pt it for thë 2 record. 3 MR. ANDERSON: Hr. Chairman, also -thera's 4 on9 other matter which we might have Mr. Barber talk about as 5 long as he is here, and that is concerning the size of the 6 safety pilot for the Dolly Varden platform; it'll just take a 7 moment, I believe. 8 MR. BURRELL: All right. 9 MR. BARBER: It appears maybe that we had some confusion in my Direct earlier.on the 1,000 mcf for the platform as to an everyday volume of thirty a month, and I testified that I did not think we wouldneedthirty a month, but I did not mean to infer that we should be limited to something ~ess than thirty if the need should arise. We should have that flexibility that on some ,month we may need thirty, and I wanted to try to clear up that area. MR. BURRELL: Well, let me explore that just a second. Would less than thirty a month be satisfacto~if you had the exception for an emergency condition. In no way any number we .might set, if we set a specific number, wou~d preclude an emergency; we're not going to endanger either life or property, and any Order we would iSSUè which would do so I think would be 23 illegal and immoral both. MR. BARBER: Yes. I would look on the emer- 24 25 gency as something over and above a safety pilot. R & R COU RT REPORTERS 828 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !S 277-4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501. ( 10 11 12 ( 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 ( 23 24 25 ~1 ( Page 86 1 MR. BURRELL: I would too. 2 MR. BARBER: I was looking at just the safety 3 pilot volume here. 4 MR. BURRELL: All right. MR. BARBER: I look to a million per day. MR. BURRELL: I understood you to testify 5 6 7 earlier, maybe I'm mistaken, I understood you to testify earlier 8 that a million a day' average average 'or thirty a ~onth, thirty million a month average, would cover the strong winds under a 9 complete shutdown of both compressors? MR. BARBER: That covers just the safety pilot. Of course, when the compressor's shutdown, there is alot larger volume that's flared at that time that's over and above what, we would include in the safety pilot volume. MR. BURRELL: Both of these are flared through the same boom. MR. BARBER: It's flared through the same boom. MR. BURRELL: Right, that's what I understood, okay. Then the thirty million a month would not inclUdeshut-- down? MR. BARBER: Would not be the emergency type situation. MR. BURRELL: Just the situation if both compressors were down? R & R COURT REPORTERS 8215 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE IS 277-4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99~OI ( ¡( Page 87 1 MR. BARBER: Right, for just a few moments, ( 2 yes, sir. 3 MR. GILBRETH: In other words, the million a 4 day that's here or the thirty million a month that you testified 5 to is just for the pilot light, exclusive of all other flares, 6 by itself? 7 MR. BARBER: Yes, sir. That's with every- 8 thing running and just the pilot>burning, yes, sir. 9 MR. BURRELL: I'm glad we got that clarified. 10 Thank you very much, Mr. Barber. 11 MR. ANDERSON: Mr. Chairman, that's all we 12 have at this time. We'll proceed with Granite Point after ( 13 lunch', if --- 14 MR. BURRELL: Right, we'll adjourn until 15 ona-thirty for lunch. 16 17 (OFF THE RECORD) (ON THE RECORD) 18 MR. BURRELL: Good afternoon, ladies and 19 gentlemen, we'll reconvene the hearing. 20 MR. ANDERSON: Mr. Chairman, as I mentioned 21 earlier, Mr. W. R. Harrison and Mr. Rischer ~hórnton, attorneys 22 for Mobil Oil Corporation, will handle the Granite Point Mobil ( 23 Number One platform. 24 25 MR. BURRELL: Thank you, Mr. Anderson. MR. THORNTON: This is R. M. Thorton of the R 8c R COURT REPORTERS 8215 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !5 277·4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99'01 ~1 (' 1'" ( ( ( Page 88 ( 1 law firm of Holland and Thornton, representing Mobil oil Corporation. Mr. Chairman, as you and the rest of the 2' 3 Commission are aware, Mobil,', Oil Company has contested Conser- 4 vat ion File No. 102, and it's presently: in the Superior Court for the State of Alaska. That of course will have some outcome 5 6 on any flaring insofar as the Mobil platform is concerned. 7 Prior to testifying here, the Mobil witnesses are appearing here 8 today with the understanding that such appearance will not 9 constitute a waiver of any right of Mobil in such case, nor shàl1 10 any such testimony be used in any manner prejudicial to such 11 right. ' Subject to that, we will proceed with our testimony. 12 MR. BURRELL: Mr. Thornton, I --- the last 13 bit of it there threw me just a bit, sir. YOU mean that as far 14 ,as you are concerned, the record of this testimony cannot be 15 used in any subsequent judicial proceedings? 16 MR. THORNTON: We have no objection to it 17 being used in any other judicial proceedings. 18 MR. BURRELL: All right, I'm talking about 19 the one now pending. 20 MR. THORNTON: We --- actuálly, we have no 21 objection to its being used in the currently proceedin9 --- in 22 the current proceedings, so long as it's not used in a manner 23 to constitute a waiver of that proceeding. 24 MR. BURRELL: All right. I have no objection 25 to that so long as it can be used --- in no way is it intended to ~1 R Be R COURT REPORTERS 82S WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !S 277·4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 , 1 ( ( ·15 ( ~1 ( ( Page 89 constitute a waiver of any right in the proceedings --- 2 MR. THORNTON: In other words, our appearance 3 here today is not to be constituted as a waiver of any rights 4 that we're asserting in the contest that we presently have filed 5 in the Superior Court. 6 MR. BURRELL: That's accepted. 7 MR. HARRISON: Mr~ Chairman, members of the 8 Commission. W.,R. Harris of --- Harrison, appearing for Mobil 9 Oil Corporation. With your indulgence of the Commission, I'd like to set the record straight on the hearing that was held 10 11 the previous day. There's been a lot of comment about the 12 gentleman that sat next to me in the rear of the room here yes- 13 terday, and I'd like the record to show that Mobil disclaims 14 any association with this individual. He is not a Mobil employee, nor is he on retainer to Mobil. (Laughter.) 16 MR. BURRELL: The only reason the question 17 c~me up, Mr. Harrison, is Mobil's the only one that didn't have 18 ---the only operator that did not have an engineer speak, and 19 he was sitting next to you (laughter) --- 20 MR. HARRISON: I figured ~hat, and a lot of 21 you probably in your minds figured that my witness was unavailable 22 to testify. Mr. Chairman, we have one witness who will appear 23 in this matter being heard by the Commission today; it's Mr. 24 ,Max Beazley. Mr. Beazley has not previously testified before 25 this Commission, and with we'd ,like at this time to have Mr. R Be R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE S 277·4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 (" 11 ( .15 20 ( 24 ( ~1 ~' ( Page 90 1 Beazley qualify himself as an expert witness in this matter. 2 Mr. Beazley, would you proceed and tell the Commission your 3 background and education and so forth. 4 MR. BEAZLEY: My name is Max Beazley. I 5 live at 7311 Madylnn Drive in Anchorage. I graduated in 1949 6 from University of Southern California with a degree in Chemistry. 7 I'm registered as a Professional Chemical Engineer in the State 8 of California in 1957. I've worked for Mobil Oil Company for 9 sixteen years as a chemical engineer, as a production engineer, 10 'and as an operations engineer. My present assignment is Associate Operations Engineer with the Alaska Producing Division; 12 I have occupied that position for approximately two and a half 13 year s . 14 MR. BURRELL: Thank you, Mr. Beazley. Without objection, we'll accept your qualifications. Sir, were you 16 sworn earlier? 17 MR. BEAZLEY: Yes, I was. 18 MR. HA.RRISON:'Mr. Beazley, in your capacity 19 as an Assistant Operations Engineer, are you familiar with the Mobil Granite Point platform? 21 MR. BEAZLEY: Yes, sir, I am. 22 MR. HARRISON: Are you also familiar with the 23 safety flare equipment that is located on that platform? MR. BEAZLEY: Yes, I am. 25 MR. HARRISON: In preparation for this hearinq, R Be R COURT REPORTERS 8:211 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !5 277-4713 ANCHORAGE,ALASKA g9501 (' (" Page 91 1 have you prepared a statement which you wish to give to this 2 Commission at this time? (' 3 MR. BEAZLEY: Yes, I have. 4 MR. HARRISON: Will you now proceed with your 5 statement, Mr. Beazley? 6 MR. BEAZLEY: All right. I'll skip the first 7 paragraph since I've already gone over that. Mobil is operator 8 for itself and Unioâ Oil Company of California on the southern- 9 most platform in the Granite Point Field. We are now producing 10 approximately 6100 barrels a day of oil and 6500 mcf per day of 11 associated gas.' We are cycling some 6200 mcf per day ,of gas to 12 lift the oil to the surface. We therefore are handling 12,700 ( 13 mcf per day of gas on the platform. Of this amount, we are now 14 compressing approximately 8500 mcf per day of gas: 6200 mcf for ,15 gas lift, 1300 mcf for use as fuel, and 1000 mcf --- up to 1000 16 mcf for sale to Atlantic Richfield Company. There are two com- 17 pressors on the platform available for this service. The first, 18 a Cooper GMBA 12, is rated at 1550 horsepower and is capable of 19 handling 7500 mcf per day. The second, a Clark HMA 8, is rated 20 at 350 horsepower and, is being used to compress gas for sale to 21 Atlantic Richfield Company. The balance of the gas, 4200 mcf 22 per day, is being flared in a sixteen inch ~ink.flare. We ( 23 presently are in the process of replacing the flare tip with a 24 twelve inch tip manufactured by National ~~~Oil Company. We 25 expect the new tip to burn the excess gas more efficiently. R 8c R COU RT REPORTERS .as WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !5 277-4713 ANCHORAGE,ALASKA ~9501 ~l ( 10 11 12 ( 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 ( Page 92 ( 1 The plåtform is connected to our shore site facility with 2 two eight and five-eighths inch subsea pipeline. One of these is used to transport our produced crude oil to shore for treatinr 3 4 and shipping through the Cook Inlet Pipeline System. The other pipeline is carrying about 1200 mcf per day of gas at 150 pounds to be used for fuel by ARca and our own shoresite facility. The gas now being flared is composed of the following: 5 6 7 8 crude surge tank vapors:-~400 mcf per daYi deaerator vapors - 9 100 mcf per day; gas liquid stabilizer overhead 120 mcf per day; separator gas 'in excess of compressor needs - 3580 mcf per day. The first three gas streams men't'ion-ea are at atmospheric pressure, and the separator gas pressure is presently about 55 pounds. Exhibit #1 which is attached to the testimony is a schematic representation of the existing gas facility system and illus- trates all of the gas sources mentioned. As can be seen from the schematic diagram, all gas to be flared,:inöluding the \ separator gas, is routed to the well cleanout tank and then to the flare. The tank and all subsequent piping is operated at essentially atmospheric pressure. In addition to the::continuous sources of flare gas, all emergency relief and vent valves are 21 piped into the flare system. In the event of a compressor 22 ( 24 malfunction '·or other emergency shutdown for overpressure, the 23 gas in the affected piping will be relieved to the flare. When this occurs, it is essential to the platform safety that the 25 flare have a sta~le flame so that the vented gas is ' burned. I ~1, R 8c R COURT REPORTERS .as WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE IS 277-4713 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 99501 ( ( Page 93 1 know of no established technical method for determining the (" 2 minimum volume of gas necessary to maintain this stable flame. 3 Weather and operational conditions will have a large effect on 4 this minimum volUme. It is therefore recommended that the 5 Mobil-Union Platform be allowed to burn continuously as a safety 6 pilot 1,000 mcf per day on a monthly average with a fifty per 7 cent tolerance to be used at the discretion of the operations 8 supervisor in charge. 9 It is further recommended that as experience shows that 10 a change in the volume Œ gas so flared is necessary, that such 11 a change be granted on an administrative basis. ,That concludes 12 my prepared tes~imony. ( 13 MR'. HARRISON: Mr. Beazley, is your", 14 ~ recommendation as to ,the volume of the safety flare on the Mobil 15 platform based on a single flare operation? 16 MR. BEAZLEY: Yes, it is. 17 MR. HARRISON: A change in operating conditions, 18 changes what would you recommend, as to the recommended volume 19 for a safety flare? 20 MR. BEAZLEY: To start a changed operation 21 with a second flare, if that were necessary, I would have to 22 recommend the same volume and depend on experience to show us ( 23 what volume was actually necessary for any changed condition. 24 MR. HARRISON: Mr. Chairman, that concludes 25 our testimony as to this witness, and he will now be available ~1 R 8c R COURT REPORTERS 82S WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 15 277-4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 ( '( ( 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 , 24 25 ...1 ( Page 94 ( 1 to answer any questions. 2 MR. BURRELL: Thank you, Mr. Harrison. Mr. 3 qilbreth; do you have any questions of Mr. Beazley? 4 MR. GILBRETH: ,Mr. Beazley, this you. 5 recommend a minimum safety pilot allowance of 1,000 mcf per day 6 with a fifty per cent tolerance? 7 MR. BEAZLEY: Yes, sir. 8 MR. GILBRETH: You've heard, I guess, the 9 testimony of some of the other operators here this morning, indicating that they felt the 1,000 mcf per day would be adequate over a period of a month, some days requiring more and some days requiring less. Is that--- the fifty per cent tolerance you have there, 'is that what you're meaning in it, or are you · actually meaning an allowance, up to 4500 mcf per month? MR. BEAZLEY: Based on what I know now, I would have to suggest that this be a 4500 mcf per month, presuming that we couldn't predict the minimum requirement for thirty days in a month. MR. GILBRETH: You don't have any experience, I don't guess, now at the lower rate, know what kind of a volume you really have to have on the platform? MR. BEAZLEY: No, we don't. We're not capable of ~xperience in this range of operation now. MR. GILBRETH: Incidentally, how many flares do you have on your platform? R 8c R COURT REPORTERS 82S WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !I 277·4713 ANCHORAGE,ALASKA 99501 Page 95 (' ( 1 MR. BEAZLEY: Just a single flare. ( 2 MR. GILBRETH: Just a single flare. Can you I 3 tell me what the size --- I saw the burner tip, sixteen inch 4 Zi.nk --- 5 MR. BEAZLEY: Yes" this --- Ì:t's a sixteen 6 inch flare tip now with a sixteen inch pipe leading to it. 7 MR. GILBRETH: Going to a twelve? 8 MR. BEAZLEY: No, it will be when we have 9 completed the change. Right now it's a sixteen inch pipe leadin~ 10 to a sixteen inch tip. 11 MR. GILBRETH: Okay. For the pilot gas, do 12 you have a separate pilot line, or does it feed through the six- \ ( , ( 13 teen inch line? 14 MR. BEAZLEY: We have three pilot lines on 15 the flare tip as it exists. These are igniter pilot lines. I 16 wouldn't consider them safety pilot lines. 17 MR. GILBRETH: Do you mean by that that they' ;:-e 18 subject to go out? 19 MR. BEAZLEY: Yes, they are. Our experience 20 with them has been quite bad¡ they~re not reliable. 21 MK. GILBRETH: Is there any prQvision in your ,22 platform hookup to measure the gas that is used for the safety ( 23 pilot? 24 MR. BEAZLEY: No, sir, there is not. 25 MR. GILBRETH: Is your hookup like the other ...... 1 R & R COURT REPORTERS saa WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !S 277.4713 ANCHORAGE,ALASKA 99~OI f 10 11 12 :( 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 ( 23 24 25 .... 1 If Page 96 ( 1 platforms, such that if'an overall emergency condition arises, 2 that your control valves will all be opened to the flare? 3 MR. BEAZLEY: That's correct. 4 MR. GILBRETH: With the piping that you have, 5- would it be feasible to measure the gas you use now on the 6 platform, the pilot gas? 7 MR. BEAZLEY: No, sir. MR. GILBRETH: That's all I have right,"now, 8 9 thank you. MR. MARSHALL: Mr. Beazley, you're replacing your Zink flare tip with a smaller Natiònal Air/Oil tip? MR. BEAZLEY: Yes, sir. MR. MARSHALL: Could you describe briefly ,the difference in these tips? MR. BEAZLEY: Yes, the new tip is commonly called a steam injection flare tip. It has a ring on the end of it ,which injects gas through I believe it's eighteen nozzles into the flame itself. This induces turbulence and çreates" better combustion characteristics. MR. MARSHALL: I see. It then is a smoke its.purpose,is to ·achieve smokelessness, MR. BEAZLEY: That is correct. MR. MARSHALL: rather than perpetuating tqe flame? MR. BEAZLEY: That's correct. R 8c R COURT REPORTERS eas WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !5 277-4713 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 99501 ( ( Page 97 1 MR. MARSHALL: Thank you. ( 2 MR. BEAZLEY: In other respects it's similar 3 to the old flare, except it's smaller. 4 MR. MARSHALL: Thank you. I have no other 5 questions. 6 MR. BURRELL: Mr. Beazley, as I understand 7 it, you are requesting 4500'mcf per month as --- 9 M2.. BEAZLEY: It's --- MR. BURRELL: --- as discretionary MR. BEAZLEY: Yes. I would exp~ct 1', or would 8 10 11 like to have a nominal volume with a tolerance in the wording Of 12 the order; this would be appropriate to us. í( 13 MR. BURRELL: Could you tell me what you're 14 currently flaring' per month under platform operating conditions? 16 MR. BEAZLEY: Approximately 4200 per day. MR. BURRELL: 4200 per day? MR. BEAZLEY: Yes. MR. BURRELL: You mentioned the possibility '15 17 18 19 of --- I shouldn't say the --- well, I guess possibility is the 20 right word --- possibility of a second flare boom u~der certain 21 circumstances, in which case when you get it, you'd probably 22 want to have roughly the same size flare and --- ( 23 24 25 MR. BEAZLEY: Yes, sir. Without --- pardon? MR. BURRELL: Go ahead. MR. BEAZLEY: Without knowing more of the, ~l R Be R COURT REPORTERS 8215 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE IS 277.4713 ANCHORAGE,ALASKA 99~01 (' ~ ( , ( ~1 ( Page 98 ~ 1 potential change than that statement, I would have to recommend 2 that, yes, sir. 3 MR. BURRELL: Could yOU" give me some idea of 4 the circumstances under which you might find it necessary to 5 install a second flare boom? 6 MR. BEAZLEY: I would think that the addition~l 7 production over what we see now, or a 'different conditions of, a safety,/different' ,type of operation ,which might create more 8 9 hazardous conditions with the flare boom that we have. 10 MR. BURRELL: Well, unless you find a new 11 oil pool or something like that, I would say there'-s"' probably 12 not much chance of the former. 13 MR. BEAZLEY: I would say the chances were 14 , slim, yes, sir. 15 MR. BURRELL: What change in operations do 16 you contemplate? That's kind of a broad term; I guess I should 17 MR. BEAZLEY: I don't contemplate any change. 18 MR. BURRELL: What possible chagge in 19 operations could occur that might necessitate a second flare 20 boom? 21 MR. BEAZLEY: I can't visualize'any right at 22 the moment. Perhaps a different recovery method or similar 23 change in operation of that nature. 24 MR. BURRELL: I'm just trying to get some 25 idea if we had an imminent problem here. R a: R COURT REPORTERS 821S WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE S 277-4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99~01 , ( ,( Page 99 1 ' MR. BEAZLEY: No, sir, we· do not. I know of f 2 none. 3 MR. BURRELL: I see.. Does this maximum that 4 you've requested of 4500 mcf per day --~ does that cover such 5 things as, oh, emergencies. that might arise out of instantaneous 6 discharge situations? 7 MR. BEAZLEY: No, sir. This would be the' 8 volume that I think we would attempt to maintain routinely, whic~ 9 as I mentioned in my testimony would be at the discretion of the 10 operations superintendent. My feeling is that he's the man in 12 charge of the platform, and he should have some discretion. I expect he would operate prudently and would not burn more gas t.han was necessary. 11 I( 13 14 MR. BURRELL: Sure, well, I'm not arguing, 15 --- I didn't mean to imply that he.might., What is your instan- 16 taneous discharge volume? I don't believe you testified to it. 17 MR. BEAZLEY:, No, sir, I have not. calculated 18 that.· It would be, re]~atively smaller than other platforms or . . 19 people have testified for, other platforms, ,but I did not calculate 20 it. 21 MR. GILBRETH: And yet you're as,king for a 22 larger flared volume? ( 23 MR. BEAZLEY: Yes, sir. 24 MR. ..GILBRETH: Even though you have less of 25 an instantaneous ~1 R 8c R COURT REPORTERS las WESTEIQHTH AVENUE-SUITE !S 277.4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99~OI (' c ( ( '15 . 17 - ~1 ( ( ( Page 100 MR. BURRELL: Of course some of the others 1 did indicate that the instantaneous discharge volume would not 2 3 be cover~d"by the requested flare volume. . MR. BEAZLEY: Yes, sir. The other people 4 5 testifying for the other platforms had benefit of experience 6 with their system, some of them at least. We have none, no 7 8 ,experience, and don't have the capability of getting any experience. 9 MR. BURRELL: You indicated that 4500 per 10 ,day--- 4500 mcf per day per month, e£cuse me, might be something you', d want to dowitho'maintained b~rning; would this lje regard- 11 12 less of wind conditions, regardless of --- 13 14 MR. BEAZLEY: No, sir. MR. BURRELL: compressor operations or --- MR. BEAZLEY: I would leave ,that at the .,dis- 16 cretion:':!of the: ,operations supervisor and would leave it up to him. The maximum volume I would say would be contingent upon 18 bad conditions for thirty day&'a month. 19 MR. BURRELL: Uh-hmrn. In other words, --- 20 MR,. H~RRISON (?) : Gentlemen? MR. BURRELL: if you didn't have MR. HARRISON (?) : Could I interrupt this 21 22 23 matter? 24 MR. BURREL~: Yes, sir. 25 MR. HARRISON: You used the term 4500 a month; ,R Be R COURT REPORTERS las V(EST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !5 277-4713 ANCHORAGE,ALASKA g9501 '( '6 '8 10 11 12 ( 13 14 .15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 ( 23 24 25 ~l ( ( Page 101 1 I believe that'd be more like 45,000 mcf a month. 2 MR. BEAZLEY: That's right. 3 MR. BURRELL: What? I beg your pardon, okay. MR. HARRISON: Right. MR. BURRELL: 45,000, thank you. MR. HARRISON: Right. MR. BURRELL: I· can't keep my zeroes straight. 4 5 7 Assuming no unusual wind conditions and assuming the compressors 9 - ~re operating, it's nowhere near this figure,' is that correct? MR. BEAZLEY: Yes, sir. MR.' BURRELL: That's all I have, Mr. Beazley~ Mr. 'Gilbreth? MR. GILBRETH: No 'questions. MR. BURRELL: Mr. Marshall? MR. MARSHALL: No. MR. BURRELL: That's all we have, sir. MR. HARRISON: Mr. Chairman, at this time if this matter is now concluded, Mr. Beazley would also at this ~irr is prep~red to testify concerning the safety flare at the shore- site, Granite Point Shoresite, which:.is operated, as you know, by Mobil. MR. BURRELL. : Thank you, Mr. Harr i son. MR. HARRISQN: Would you again state your name and your position for the record and proceed to testify in this matter, Mr. Beazley?, R 8c R COURT REPORTERS Gas WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE IS 277·4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 ( (' . Page 102 1 MR. BEAZLEY: My name is Max Beazley, ( 2 Associate' Operations Engineer for Mobil Oil Company, Alaska, 3 Producing Division. (Mr. Beazley's testimony attached as an 4 ,exhibit to this transcript.) 5, MR. HARRISON: Mr. Beazley, do you have a 6 recommendation to give to this Commission today as to the volume 7 of gas for a safety pilot operation at the Granite Point Shore- S site? 9 MR. BEAZLEY: Yes, I would recommend that 10 this volume be set at 100 mcf per da~ as we are now flarin~with 11 the fifty per cent tolerance to take ,care of, variability in 12 conditions. ( 13 MR. HARRISON: Mr. Chairman, that concludes 14 Mr. Beazley's testimony as to the Shoresite flare. He will now "15 be responsive to any questions. 16 17 Gilbreth? MR. BURRELL: Thank you, Mr. Harrison. Mr. 18 MR. GILBRETH: Mr. Beazley, I'd be interested 19 in hearing the reason that 'you need the flare at the Granite 20 Point Shoresite? Can you tell us where the flare is located 21 with respect to the battery an~ the other facilities, personneL 22 quarters, and what have you? ( 23 MR. BEAZLEY: Yes. Our normal flare was 24 located below the battery, closer to the beach than our facility; 25 it's presently out of service. It's identical to the flare ~1 R 8c R COURT REPORTERS 8215 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !S 277-4713 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 99501 ,( 10 11 t ( ( ~1 ( Page 103 (" 1 that's on thè platform except that it's vertical. The flare 2 we're using now is, in our burn pit in the waste water pit, and 3 we're using it there until the other flare can be ~ut back in 4 service. It was damaged by frost heave during the winter. We 5 have ,to burn this much'gas in order for the same reasons as the 6 flare on the platform, in order to' maintain a flame so that we 7 can burn gas if it is accidentally vented. ,This volume requirëd here is much smaller because --~ as others have testified, 8 9 because of the location of it, the smaller volumes of gas, and the lower pressures. MR. GILBRETH: What about the remoteness of 12 the flare; could it be moved far enough away from all the~faci- 13 lities so that it wouldn't be necessary to burn it, or would it 14 still create a hazard? 15 MR. BEAZLEY: I believe it would still create 16 a hazard because the flare would still be in one relative 17 position to the facilities, and if th~ wind were adverse, it 'could still create a hazard for the~iving quarters that are 18 19 attached to the facility. 20 MR~ GILBRETH: How far away is your flare now from your living quarters and other equipment and how fa~ must 21 22 you get the permanent flare fixed? MR. BEAZLEY: Our flare now is approximately 23 24 --- I'm guessing at this number --- five or six hundred feet 25 from the living quarters, and it will be as much as a thousand R 8c R COURT REPORTERS eas WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE IS 277-4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 9g501 ( 10 11 12 ( 13 14 '15 16 17 18 19 '20 21 22 ( 23 24 25 ~1 ( r ( Page 104 1 feet when it's installed permanently. 2 MR. GILBRETH: How about from your other 3 tank battery equipment? 4 MR. BEAZLEY: It's closer to the tank battery 5 equipment, but is still a distance, I believe, of about three 6 hundred feet. The permanent' flare will be a distance of about 7 six hundred feet. 8 MR. GILBRETH: On your present platform hookup, do you anticipate any surging under emergency conditions 9 of gas or oil volumes coming to shore that would overload your equipment onshore? MR. BEAZLEY: No, sir, I anticipate no problems in that respect. MR. GILBRETH: That!s all I have. MR. BURRELL: Mr. Marshall? MR. MARSHALL: ' Mr. Beazley, I believe you mentioned that your flare arrangement was similartto that which 'was on the platform. I didn't quite'understand this. Does this mean your --- you have a 'similar type of flare tip, or was this just some other mechanical arrangements? MR. BEAZLEY: No, the flare tip at the Shore- site is identical to the tip on the platform. MR. MARSHALL: That is it's a National Air/Oi~? MR. BEAZLEY: No, the existing flare, which is a Zinke R 8: R COU RT REPORTERS .as WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE S 277.4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 (" ( ( {' ( ( Page 105 1 MR. MARSHALL: ah. 2 MR. BEAZLEY: But it is placed in a vertical 3 position.. 4 MR. MARSHALL: I see, thank you. Does it 5 seem to operate in a better fashion in a vertical position than 6 on the platform mere I assume it's angled steeply away? 7 MR. BEAZLEY: Yes. The flare on the platform 8 is angled a~ a forty-five degrees, and in my own personal 9 experience I know of no difference between the two. 10 MR. MARSHALL: I see, thank you. MR. BURRELL: Is that all, Mr. Marshall? 11 12 MR. MARSHALL: That's all. 13 MR. BURRELL: Mr. Beazley, in connection with 14 your testimony on the production site as well as the production . '15 pIa tfo+"m, would it be fair is I revise your request and say 16 you're asking, for production site 150 mcf per day and platform 17 1500 mcf per day 18 MR. BEAZLEY: That would be sensible. 19 MR. BURRELL: --- averaged monthly ,at that 20 rate? 21 MR. BEAZLEY: Yes, sir. 22 MR. BURRELL: Because that's the way I read the other number, plus fifty per cent discret.ion.. , MR. BEAZLEY~ That' would be acceptable, yes. MR. BURRELL: In other words, the fifty per 23 24 25 R 8c R COURT REPORTERS .as WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 5 277.4713 ANCHORÀGE, ALASKA 99501 ~1 (' ( Page 106 (' 1 cent you wou~dn't mind if we allowed you to go dówn with it, but it would be below, 2 3 MR. BEAZLEY: No, sir, that's --- 4 MR. BURRELL: fifty per cent in the 5 lower direction. 9 MR. BEAZLEY: --- that's correct. MR. BURRELL: That's all I' :.hav:e. Thank you. MR. BEAZLEY: Thank you. MR. HARRISON: Thank you very much. MR. ANDERSON: Mr. Chairman, as I indicated 6 7 8 10 11 earlier, we'll continue with Granite Point and yield to Mr. 12 Ralph C. Crews, attorney for AMOCO Production Company, who will t 13 introduce his witnesses. 14 MR. BURRELL: Thank you, Mr. Anderson. '15 MR. CREWS: I'm Ralph Crews of the law firm 16 of-Crews and OWens, representing AMOCO. Our testimony here today 17 will concern Order No. 102 concerning Bruce and Anna platforms 18 ,at Granite Point, Order No. 105 concerning platforms Baker and 19 Dillon in Middleground Shoal. Testimony will be given in three 20 parts. Mr. Millard Owens will testify as'to the schematic dia- 21 grams of the platforms; Mr. Bart Giles will testify as to the 22, gas,needed'for the safety pilots; and Mr. Owens will then again ( 23 ' 'testify as to the f lare ~:or~..the' safety' pilot- needed-: .on the East 24 Foreland. 25 Mr. Owens will be the first witness and has not testified R Be R COURT REPORTERS .a5 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 5 277·4713 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 99!501 ~1 ( 10 11 12 { 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 '20 21 22, ( 23 24 25 ~1 (' Page 107 ( 1 previously before this þody, so we'd li~e to ask some prelimina~y. questions as to his qualifications. Would you state your name, 2 3 please, Mr. OWens? 4 MR. OWENS: Yes, Millard Owens. 5 MR. CREWS: And by whom are you employed? MR. OWENS: AMOCO Production Company. MR. CREWS: Arid how long have you worked for 6 7 AMOCO? 8 9 MR. OWENS: Going on ten years. MR. CREWS: Would you give a brief resume of your educational background? MR. OWENS: I receivèd a degree of Petroleum Engineer from the Colorado School of Mines in 1962. MR. CREWS: And would you give a brief resume of your work experience with AMOCO and particularly that in the Cook Inlet Oilfield? MR. OWENS:, I started work for AMOCO Production Company immediately upon leaving college in Wyoming and worked in three different areas in Wyoming, working with drilling, completion operations, workovers, waterflooding, steamflooding, gas handling, gas process, ,w9rk in gas plants, attended a school for process engineering for the company, in the year 1965, then moved here to Alaska in August of '66 and"have been here working in this area ever~"' since. My primary work here has been involved in the design and layout of production facilities, both onshore and on platforms, with artificial lift equipment, Kobe and gas R 8: R COURT REPORTERS 8215 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE IS 277-4713 ANCHqRAGE, ALASKA 9geOl f Page 108 ( 1 lift, and al~o with waterflood installations and the current gas handling equipment. 2 3 'MR. CREWS: Are you a member of' any pro- 4 fessional associations? 5 MR. OWENS: Yes, I am a current member of 6 the S. P. E. of ~'..:I .·M~E':;~ ~ '7 MR. CREWS: We offer Mr. OWens as an expert 8 witness. 9 Without objection, we'll accept MR. BURRELL: Mr. Owens as an expert witness. you? MR. OWENS: Yes, sir, I was. 10 You were sworn earlier, weren't 11 12 ( 13 MR. CREWS: Mr. Owens will offer his testi- 14 mony in narra ti ve'. . '15 MR. OWENS: The exhibits that were just 16 handed to you are labeled One through Four, and they show the 17 £law schematic for the four platforms that AMOCO productión 18 Company operates in Cook Inlet. This is a typical schemátic 19 which covers basically the very sa'me thing we've shoWn on 20 those drawings, except there are a few modifications ~r changes 21 between, the systems that we will note as we go through this. 22 In looking'_ at our flow schematic, we bring our produced <. 23 crude into a production separator at roughly sixty pounds pres- 24 sure which we then separate off the gas which comes off and goes 25 into the gas handling system on the platform. This system is ~1 R 8c R COU RT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !S 277.4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 ( ( Page 109 ( 1 ~ with split into two'parts,/one part being the high pressure gas that 2 then is carried on into a scrubber, from the main scrubber into '3 a secondary scrubber,· and then into a gas compressor, and from 10 11 ( . ··15 20 ( ~1 4 the gas compressor into a cooler, from the cooler to a scrubber, 5 from there into a glyco: dehydrator, and from that point it is 6 either shipped to the beach or used as fuel. You'll note that 7 we do take off from there for high pressure fuel; this is pri- 8 marily used for the fuel for the turbines that are used to 9, I power the various equipment on the platform. Backing up to this point ahead of the gas compressor facilities, we then have a line taking any of the other gas that we feel we need on the platform to, go to our safety pilot coming off and purging these 12 13 lines, keeping a purge that goes through a knockout drum, and 14 from there into the såfety'pilot. Also feeding into this is gas that'comes from the pre-w~ter 16 knockout which takes the ---- any gas that comes off at this 17 point which is lower pressure gas, feeds this into the system, 18 and it goes to the safety pilot also. Then we have a separate 19 system that is the tank vent system, taking gas off from the surge tank on the platform, feeding this gas into a ~eparate 21 knockout drum, and this in turn goes to the flare for the safety 22 23 pilot. These two flares are designed such that the one flare here for the tank vent system is angled over into the path of 24 the high pressure flare at-the,tip~ Now, these flares --- these 25 flare lines come off as one single flare boom on all four of our R 8c R COURT REPORTERS 82S WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 5 277-4713 ANCHORAGE,ALASKA 99501 Page 110 ( ( 1 platforms, so we do have only one single flare boom with pri- (' 2 marily the two lines here going out that flare boom. We do not 3 have a pilot light as such separate from this .~]e use the flare 4 lines themselves as the means of keeping the flare lines --- the 5 flare burning. 6 One of the 'primary reasons for this is that we feel that 7 these lines must'be purged at all times to be safe. We cannot 8 leave them dormant; therefore we carry gas through them at all 9 times, and the pilot gas that we will be asking for consists of 10 the gas combined between these two flare tips. 11 Looking at your schematics that you have there, you'll 12 notice that the Anna, Bruce, and Dillon platforms follow this ( 13 primary design;' the major difference in --- the only' difference 14 ~ between in those three platforms is that on the Dillon 15 platform we have a --- or actually preparing to install a 16 reciprocating compressor which will handle the gas, whereas the 17 other platforms have Solar driven re'ciprocating compressors 18 centrifugal compressors, pardon me. Then if you'll look at 'the on 19 Baker platform,/that particular platform we have a Worthington 20 gas lift compressor at that position where we do take the gas up 21 to a thousand pounds pressure to use tâ:'s'·:: gas lift. Now, this 22 is the only basic difference in the flow schemes of the four ( 23 platforms" and that essentially covers this part of the pre- 24 sentation. 25 MR. BURRELL: Thank you, Mr. Owens. Does ~1 R Be R COURT REPORTERS e:us WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !5 277.4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 f ( ( ~1 ( Page III ( i any member of the Committee have any questions of Mr. Owens 2 '3 at· ,this time? MR. GILES: Why don ~,t I continue, sir, MR. BURRELL: Fine. MR. GILES: --- and then you can ask us both 4 5 6 questions. 7 MR. BURRELL: All right. 8 MR. GILES: Bart Giles, AMOCO engineer at '.Denver. And at the outset I should say that I too am testifying 9 10 on Conservation File 102, Granite,Point, and 105, Middleground 11 Shoal. ' 12 'Gentlemen,' safety is the most important factor; we've got 13 to protect personnel and the platform. We have from eight "to 14 as many as forty people living on the platforms at one time, and 15 their safety is of utmost importance. We have extensive sys- 16 terns of gas and fire detection and alarm, automatic fire suppressic by dry , chemical Taylonwhich is a smothering gas and/or C02 and water deluge; all these have been installed on each of the plat- forms,to ensure safety of operating personnel. A safety pilot 17 18 19 20 is necessary to ensure that any gas released by relief'valves or 21 during star~up and shutdown of equipment will be burned and 22 cannot create an explosive atmosphere on the platforms. 23 Now, as to the volume necessary fora safety pilot and how 24 we selected it. An average flare volume of 700 mcfd seems 25 advisable in our opinion at each of our four platforms. It's no-:. R Be R COURT REPORTERS ,as WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE ~ 277.4713 ANCHORAGE,ALASKA g9501 ( ( Page 112 1 based on any~good, practical expèrience, but based on what our ( 2 p~atforrn operating people feel they can live with to keep the 3 pilot lit under adverse wèather and: wind conditions. There is 4 unfortunately no reliable technical method' available to design 5 or calculate the minimum volume under such conditions, and there 6 are no precedents established elsewhere; I'm afraid you've heard 7 this same tune earlier today. 8 Since we handle less than 10,000 mcfd on any of our 9 platforms, including both gas lift gas and produced gas, we 10 are not concerned with blowing out the pilots during an emergency 11 ~ituation where all gas must vent temporarily through the pilot. 12 Now, experience ,in operating under a 700 mcfd saféty pilot ( 13 demonstrates to our platform operating people that it's not 14 ,enough of a~ average volu~e to be safe, so gentlemen, weill 15 be back; we'll request administrati~e approval for a greater 16 pilot flare, without, we trust, the need for another full blown 17 hearing, unless there be objections during the custo~ary ten 18 day protest period. We're making investments to handle the gas ,19 and get it to shore, so it would be illogical, unwise, to flare 20 more gas than is absolutely necessary; it'd just make good sense 21 to recover as much through revenue as we can of thìs investment 22 tha t we I ve made. ( 23 So, in sum and substance, we are saying' that. a sufficient 24 volume safety pilot to assure safe platform operations is a 25 must in our view. On the other hand, we can' respect the fact R Be R COURT REPORTERS 8as WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !5 277·4713 ANCHORAGE,ALASKA 99~OI ~1 (' 10 11 12 ( 13 ( (' Page 113 1 that well, at least we imagine that you'll be looking to 2 keep the flare pilot to a minimum to satisfy whatever needs 3 you may feel you have. But whether we consider that 700 mcfd 4 a maximum or a minimum, we think the 700 is a practical average 5 that should satisfy both considerations. We're talking about 6 an average over a monthly period. 7 MR. BURRELL: Thank you, Mr. Giles. Mr. 8 Gilbreth? 9 MR. GILBRETH: Mr. Owens, MR. CREWS: Mr. Owens has somemore testimony, if --- MR. BURRELL: Oh, okay. MR. CREWS: --~ you'd 'like to wait until 14 he t~rmina tes . ·15 16 17 19 20 21 22 ( 24 25 ....... 1 MR. BURRELL: Sure. MR. OýŒNS: My name is Millard Owens again, 18 and I would like to present her~ briefly what we feel is a minimum safety pilot for the East Forelands DE~livery Facility. At the East Forelands Delivery Facility we are handling the production from the Anna, Bruce, and Dillon platforms.; we do not 23 handle the Bakerpcoduction, this goes through Shell operating facility. Now, this total production amounts to right at 13,000 , ' \ barrels of oil per day current rate. Now, also as soon as the production facilities are put in to handle the gas, we will at that time be handling in the neighborhood of 12-15,000 mcf per R 8c R COURT REPORTERS 82S WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !S 277-4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 ( I '( ( 10 11 16 20 21 22 24 25 ~1 ( Page 114 ( 1 day of gas through thatpfaci~ity-also. This gas will be brought 2 in to some scrubbers at the facility and there transferred to the 3 pipeline, for sale. We presently have a flare at the shore facility where we are taking the vapors frpm'the pre-water 4 5 knockout and the treater and we also pipe our relief lines into 6 that flare, and we feel ,that we need a minimum of 100 mcf per 7 day on a monttüy average for a safety pilot for this flare at the 8 East Foreland Facility. This is basically what we're asking for 9 in that" 'respect. MR. BURRELL: Does that conclude the AMOCO testimony? 12 MR. CREWS: Yes, sir, it does. 13 MR. BURRELL: Mr. Gilbreth, do you have any 14 ,qu,estions? 15 MR. GILBRETH: Yes. Since most of your plat- forms are essentially ,identical, at least for the purposes that 17 we're talking about here, is there any way in which the gas goinç- 18 to the flares for safety pilot purposes can be measured on any 19 of your platforms? MR. OWENS: No, we do not have the 'means of doing that. MR. GILBRETH: You would propose determining 23 the this/way everybody else has, by a matter of deduction? MR. OWENS: Yes, sir, that is correct. MR. GILBRETH: The 700 mef per day that you've R 8c R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !5 277.4713 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 99~01 ( 10 11 ( .15 20 ( ..... 1 (' Page 115 ( 1 asked for, that would be the sum or the tota~ ~lare for the 2 platform and not' for'each of these 'lines goin9 into the safety pilot, would it, 700 total? 3 4 MR. OWENS: Yes, sir, that is correct, it 5 - would be total. 6 MR. GILBRETH: Do you have any history on your platforms that might indicate to you that this 700 is a 7 8 reasonably good figure, or is it something that's been pulled 9 out of the air? MR. OWENS: Well, I think we have somewhat of a feel on the Dillon platform, but that's the only one of 12 the four. 13 MR. GILBRETH: The rest have all flared in 14 excess of that':--':" MR. OWENS: That's correct. 16 MR. GILBRETH: in the past? What 17 could you tell me what the~proximate size and length of your 18 flare booms are? 19 MR. OWENS: Yes. ~n the Anna, Bruce, and Dillon platforms, they are twelve inch lines; each 'one of the 21 two flare lines going out are twelve inch, and they are approxi- 22 mately a hundred feet long. Now, these are swedged down at the end: the high pressure flare is swedged down to eight inch, 23 24 and the tank vent flare is swedged down to six inch tip. We 25 also have a shroud that we had designed to put around the flare R Be R COURT REPORTERS eas WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 5 277.4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 ( I( ( 11 , ··15 20 21 22 24 25 ~1 ( Page 116 ( 1 tips in order to help prevent the wind from blowing it out and 2 also to enhanqe the combustion to --- in order that we do have 3 a smokeless flare. 4 MR. GILBRETH: Your gas production, I'm sure, 5 in the past has been a little greater than it is now. Do you just have any idea/offhand what the ,maximum volumes you've handled 6 7 were? 8 MR. OWENS: Somewhe're probably in the 9 neighborhood of 13,000,000, I think, is the most that we've 10 handled. 12 MR. GILBRETH: 13,000,000 a day? MR. OWENS: Approximately, :'·right. That 13 would be my estimate. MR. GILBRETH: I think that's all I have right now. MR. BURRELL: t-lr . Marshall? MR. MARSHALL: The shroud which covers your 14 16 17 18 flare tips or which is installed on~,-i:.hem, you say this åssists 19 in creating a more smokeless situation in the burning process and it also serves to help prevent the wind blowing them out; is this a --- sort of a fabrication made by AMOCO produc.:tiòn" or is this a commercial tip of some sort? 23 MR. OWENS: This is a locally-'fa1:>ri(:ated device that we 'had designed ourself and had built locally, and the primary purpose of it is to pro~ide a venturi effect to R ec R COURT REPORTERS 828 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !5 277·4713 ANCHORAGE,ALASKA 99501 ( 10 11 12 ,( 13 14 15 16 .17 19 20 21 22 ( 24 ....œ- 1 (' Page 117 ( 1 draw additional air into the stream and to. provide a more 2 smoke free flare, but also at the same time it does provide 3 some wind protection for it, yes. 4 MR. MARSHALL: Does the burner tip --- is the 5 attitude of the burner tip approximately the same as that of 6 the vent pipe? 7 MR. OWENS: No, we come out on the vent 8 pipe at an angle. In other words, the flare lines themselves are at an angle, but when we get to the end, we turn them up 9 for probably about a three foot section, and then this shroud is placed around that tip, and that is where we also reduce the size at that point. MR.· MARSHALL: Thank you. MR. BURRELL: Is that all, Mr. Marshall? MR. MARSHALL: Yes. '~,'.::~.; ~ MR. BURRELL: Mr. Owens, you mentioned a 13,000,000 figur~; would you tell me what that was again, the 18 maximum gas you'd handled? MR. OWENS: ~i ell, MR. BURRELL: Was that per platform; is that mcf per day; would you explain what that is? MR. OWENS: That would be for anyone plat- form at a maximum capacity of oil production which was several 23 years ago. MR. BURRELL: And at that time the maximum 25 any platform handled was 13,000,000 cubic feet of gas per day, R 8c R COURT REPORTERS 8215 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE IS 277.4713 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 99~OI ( ( (' Page 118 1 iSi'that. right? 2 MR. OWENS: That is correct, but that's an .3 estimate~ 10 11 12 ( 13 14 '15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 ( 24 25 ~1 4 ~. BURRELL: Yes, I understand that; it's 5 just a pocket figure. But that's for one platform? 6 MR. OWENS: That is correct. MR. BURRELL: That_' s all I have. MR. CREWS ': Mr. Owens, were AMOCO's five 7 8 9 exhibits prepared by you or under your supervision? MR. OWENS:, Yes, they were. MR. CREWS: We offer the exhibits into evidence, Mr. Chairman. MR. OWENS: We're calling the small set One, Two, 'Three and Four,'and we're calling the master graph there that's kind of a typical sketch No. Five. MR. BURRELL: Well, why don't .we just accept One through Four into evidence, if that's acceptable, and tell l. you --- let you keep your margin:.' since --- MR. OWENS: That's fine. 23 MR. BURRELL: --- they're virtual replicas of that. ~R. OWENS: Yes. MR. CREWS: The four are accepted? MR. BURRELL: The four are accepted as AMOCO Exhibits One through Four. R 8c R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 5 277·4713 ANCHORAGE,ALASKA g9~O' f 10 11 12 ( 13 14 '15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 ( 23 , 24 25 ~1 (' Page 119 (' 1 MR. CREWS: That concludes AMOCO's testimony. 2 MR. BURRELL: Thank you very much, gentlemen. 3 MR. ANDERSON: Mr. Chairman, testimony for the 4 final two platforms in the Middleground-Shoal Field will be 5 presented by Shell Oil Company, and Mr. Joseph Rudd who is 6 attorney 'for Shell oil Company will introduce his witnesses. 7 MR. BURRELL: Thank you, Mr. Anderson. 8 'MR. RUDD: We have just one witness; it is 9 A.O.P. Casparian, Division Mechanical Engineer for Shell from Los Angeles. Mr. Casparian h~s qu~lified before and'of course testified yesterday~ We will have one exhibit; a large version of it is posted on the bulletin board; we'll distribute small copies for your use' during his' ,testimony, and at the end Mr. Casparian will give you a' similar small size copy with colors on it which .should b~ the record exhibit. MR. CASPARIAN: My name is Pete Casparian with Shell oil Company, Division Mechanical Engineer. Shell Oil Company is operator for the SAS platforms 'A' and 'c'in Middleground Shoal Field. Each 'of these two platforms is a completelyselfcontained oil'producing operation. The Middle- ground Shoal Field,is under waterflood, and each of our platforms houses a complete water injection plant. In addition, all .producing wells on these platforms are gas 1ifted.~latforms· 'A' and 'c' currently produce approximatelY'IO,OOO barrels a, day of oil each and inject approximately 15,000 barrels a day R Be R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !5 277-4713 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 99501 '( f Page 120 1 water, each one. Produced gas or casinghead gas averages about ( 2 5,000,000 cubic feet per day per platform. Th~ objective of this hearing today', is-to consider the 3 4 amount of gas necessary to maintain an adequate safety pilot on 5 our production platforms in the Inlet. First I shall discuss 6 why gas needs to be vented; then why a flare is required; and 7 finally the minimum average rate of gas that we feel is required 8 to maintain continued safe operations on our two platforms in 9 Middleground Shoal Field. 10 SAS Exhibit #1 is a generalized and simplified schematic 11 of our, gas handling system on both platforms and is typical 12 for both Platforms 'A' and 'C'.The gas that must be handled (' 13 by this system falls in two categories, which are, one, con-~' 14 ,tinuous gas disposaL and two, intermittent gas disposal. Our 15 operations require continuous disposal of small streams of gas 16 primarily for saf:ety reasons, and this has been pointed out in 17 prior testimòny. The first of these streams is shown on ,the 18 diagram outlined with broWn. I don't kncwwhether you can tell 19 w~ich, stream that is, but --. This is gas from our oxygen 20 st~ipping tower used in our waterflood operations. This vessel 21 utilizes produced gas to remove oxygen from the water being ~ injected in our waterflood operations'. The operating pressure ( 23 of this vessel must be maintained as near as possible to atmos- 24 pheric pressure to minimize the retention'of gas in solution in 25 the water. This gas in solution in the water represents a safety ~1 R Be R COURT REPORTERS 825 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE :5 277-4713 ANCHORAGE,ALASKA 99~01 (' 10 11 12 ( 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 ( 24 25 .... 1 ( ( Page 121 1 hazard in that it could'cause cavation in pumping equipment in 2 the waterflood system, and cavation in this pumping equipment 3 could result in explosion or fire. So to attempt to recover 4 the tail gas containing 02 is unsafe and such gas is disposed 5 of. 6 The second stream of continuously disposed gas is a 7 venting of tank yapors'from:the,ondeck tank and the girder 8 tank. Although these two tanks are notusèd,':on a¡ continuous 9 basis for oil handling, they do nonetheless continuously give off hydrocarbon vapors. These tanks are not designed for pressurized operations and consequently must ,be operated at or to. be near atmospheric pressure. Here agàin, we consider it/unsafe to attempt to recover these vapors since overpressuring of these ,vessels would be unsafe. This system is outlined in orange on the ãiagram on the board. The last stream of continuous gas disposal I will dis- cuss is outlinéd in red on the diagram. 'This' is the purge system for all our emergency blowdownlines, which I will dis- cuss ina moment. As you c~n see on the diagram, we have several relief lines going ~o our flare boom. Each of these 23 lines is continuously purged with gas to ensure that air does not enter into the line and create an explosive mixture. This purge gas provides flashback protection for all flare and vent stacks to prevent the, propagation of flame into the flare sys- tern due to the entry of air. Therefore the purge gas flow must R. & R COURT REPORTERS IllS WEST EIGHTH AVENUE"':"'SUITE IS 277·4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 9g~OI (' 10 11 12 ( 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 ( 24 25 ~1 ( Page .122 ( 1 be high enough to overcome this situation. The installation of 2 any equipment to recover this gas would of course defeat the 3 emergency relief purpose. 4 In addition to the continuous disposal of gas that I have 5 qiscussed, our disposal system must handle some intermittent 6 streams of gas. The first of these is a surge gas system which 7 is shown on in green on the diagram. I mentioned earlier that 8 all of our producing wells are gas lifted. Gas lift wells do 9 not always produce oil and gas at a steady, constant rate. The heading nature of these wells sometimes causes very high instantaneous flow rates which may fora short period of time exceed the capacity of our compression equipment. The function is of this system/to dispose of these surges in flow rates. We do not 'anticipate that this amount of surge gas will be large since the compression equipment that, we have at present and that which we are installing to ship our gas to shore is capable of handling about four times the initial average excess casing- head gas rate. The final streams of intermittent disposal gas that I, will discuss ar~shown in, yellow on the diagram. This system is the emergency relief system for all pressure vessels and compressors on the platform. As shown on the diagram, this 23 system consists of several lines from the compressors,separaèörs, and scrubbers¡, This system is required to avoid' overpressuring"' , ' of vessels upon equipment malfunction, in addition to blowing R Be R COURT REPORTERS .as WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !S 277-4713 ,ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 99501 (" lQ 11 12 ( 13 14 15 16 17 · 18 19 20 21 22 ~ 23 24 25' ~1 (' Page 123 ( 1 down these vessels for equipment maintenance, etc. As an 2 example, if a compressor were to shut down for some reason, 3 the pressurized gas is the compressor cylinders is immediately 4 vented. -This instantaneous rate is several times greater than 5 the rates of gas being compressed and the piping has to be 6. 7 designed such that the gas can be relieved safely. This source of gas is not to be considered as part of the safety pilot 8 flare as it occurs intermittently. 9 Other sources of gas that have to be vented that are not shown on the exhibit are purgingof<oompressors after they have been down to remove air out of the cylinders; loading compres- sors, blowing down separators, surge vessels, etc., for equip- ment maintenance. These amountsagain are small in terms of total volume. Ilve discussed so far in detail the need to continuously and intermittently dispose of gas on our platforms. I will now di~cuss alternative methods o~ gas disposal and point out why we consider flaring to b~ the safest disposal method for these ,platforms. As was pointed out in prior testimony, platforms in Cook Inlet are a unique situation compared to offshore p~oductio~ elsewhere. These platforms are totally enclosed due to severe weather conditions. A~y gas vent stacks or flare st~cks'must be located on the platforms due to severe tides and ice con- ditions in the Cook INlet. Since the gas disposal must be on the platform and'since the platforms are totally enclosed, we R 8c R COURT REPORTERS ,.as WE8TEIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !I 277.4713 A~CHORAGE.ALASKA 99501 ( 10 11 \ ( 20 ( -EÐ- 1 ( ( Page 124 1 consider a continuously burning flare to be the only safe method 2 of gas disposal. Venting would release hydrocarbon vapors in 3 close proximity to the enc~osed platform, which in turn could 4 cause an unsafe condition to exist due to flammable gas mixtures 5 occuring at the platform. Thus this safety pilot has to be in 6 operation all the time under varying wind and temperature con- '1 ditions such that instantaneous discharg~ of gas at high'rates' 8 will be safely burned. 9 I have reviewed with you the gas disposal systems on our platforms and discussed the reasóns why we must have a pilot flare burning at all times to maintain a safe operation. Adequa~e 12 technology and experience exists for the design of gas disposal systemssùch as I have described. We feel that we have a well 13 14 designed and safe gas d~sposal system on our platforms which ensures the.:safestoperation~ 'I have stated: that :it ,is imperative 15 16 that we have a pilot flare burning at all times to ensure the 17 safe release of this disposal gas; however, the volume of gas 18 required to keep a pilot flare burning under varying wind and 19 platform operating conditions is not readily predictable with the technology that exists today. 21 To conclude, I wish to state that the SAS Group has made 22 a very large investment to comply with Conservation Order NO. 23 105. The economics as we've discussed and presented to you on several previous occasions are quite poor and we do not expect , of to recover all/our investment. It is therefore to our advantage 24 25 R Be R COU RT REPORTERS eas WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !S 277·4713 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 99501 ( ( Page 125 ( flare 1 to minimize the safety/pilot, consistent with good safe operating practice to maximize the volumes of casinghead gas sold and ,hence 2 3 recover a larger portion of our investment. I therefore questio~ 4 the necessity that the minimum gas rate for a safety flare be 5 set by the Conservation Committee, rather than to a.llow each 6 operator to set his own limit consistent with his operations. 7 You heard yesterday that industry overall has spent several 8 million dollars and considerable engineering to comply with the 9 no-flare order, and I feel quite çonfident that they would wish 10 to maximize their return on their, investment and hence not dis- 11 pose of 'any gas to flare other than that req~~red to maintain 12 continued safe operations. However, if the Alaska Oil & Gas ,( 13 Conservation Committee' reaches a different conclusion based on 14 ~estimony, Shell oil Company, as operator for the SAS Group, , ·,15 requests that the minimum monthly average of 700 mcf per day 16 be set as' a permissible gas rate for a safety pilot per plat- " form, for our,MGS Field operations. We do not presently' flare 18 any gas in our onshore operations; how'ever , if conditions change inthe future which may necessitate the flaring of gas ~ we wish to request 100 mcf per day for our onshore operations as a 19 20 21 safety pilot. We of course intend to make every effort to 22 minimize the amount of gas f~ared, but if we find that a, ,larger ( 23 , gas rate is required to maintain safe operations, we would plan 24 to request a variance to the order and request that this be 25 made on an administrative basis. Thank you. ~1 R Be R COURT REPORTERS 8as WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE S 277·4713 ANCHORAGE,ALASKA 99~OI I I I ( ( ( ( ( Page 126 1 MR. RUDD: Mr. Casparian, in connection with 2 SAS Exhibit #1, was that prepared by you or under your super- 3 vision?, 4 MR. CASPARIAN: That was prepared under my 5 supervision. 6 MR. RUDD: We would ask that that be admitted 7 in evidence, and we'll give you the colormpy to include in the 8 record. 9 MR. BURRELL: Thank you. 'We'll accept that 10 in the record. I understand 11 MR. RUDD: Excuse me? 12 MR. BURRELL: ---that's the same one as the 13 one on the wall? 14 MR. CASPARIAN: That is correct. 15 MR. RUDD: Just the legend is moved to, the 16 center of the, page, but --- 17 MR. BURRELL: Oh. 18 MR. RUDD:. --- the diagram is the same. 19 ' MR. BURRELL: Thank you. That will be given 20 to us? 21 MR. RUDD: That will be --- MR. CASPARIAN: Yes, sir. MR. RUDD: given to you at the close of 22 23 24 the session. 25 MR. CASPARIAN: They'll be just the same as R & R COURT REPORTERS sas WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !5 277·4713 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA '99501 ~1' (' ( Page 127 1 you have except in colors. ( 2 MR. BURRELL: Mr. Gilbreth? 3 MR. 'GILBRETH: Mr. Casparian, your recom- 4 mendation for the 700 mcf, is 'that based on actual experience 5 that you people have gained, or is this an estimate of what you 6 think will be necessary? 7, MR. CASPARIAN: This is an estimate on what 8 we think is necessary. The --- we tried to arrive at' it:,'from 9 s;'----. based on what technqlogy has --- or is available. It's 10 primarily the purge rate that we feel, is necessary in our 11 flow lines to keep them safe. 12 MR. GILBRETH: The volumes that are being ( 13 used on your platform are considerably less than some of those 14 ,for example ,in McArthur River. Do you have any idea what type 15 of an instantaneous rate you might have on your platforms? 16 MR. CASPARIAN: Well, we did not calculate 17, it fpr this hearing; however, we did as a ballpark estimate 18 would be on the order of about four to five times the amount of 19 gas that we're compressing and which amounts to some seventy 20 million cubic feet per day as an instantaneous gas rate, but that 21 is a ballpark figure. 22 MR.~ GILBRETH: I don't have any further ( 23 questions. 24 MR. BURRELL: Mr. Marshall? 25 MR. MARSHALL: Mr. Caspar ian, would you please ..... 1 R 8: R COU RT REPORTERS 82" WEST. EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE S 277·4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99~OI ,~: ( Page 128 ( 1 review the nature of the burner tips on your platforms? ( 2 MR. CASPARIAN: The burner tips, we do not 3 have any' burner tips on our flare stack other than ,straight 4 runs of pipe. ,This is --- we feel that the problem that's 5 germane to this hearing is on the minimum safety pilot rather 6 than the reduction perhaps in smoke emission at the present time. 7 We are looking at a safety stack or a burner tip to reduce 8 smoke emission. 9 MR. MARSHALL: The reasæ that· I am interested 10 in the nature of the burner tip is because I believe it could 11 ' have an effect on how efficiently the burner stays lit, and this 12 is the ~---~his'is my reason for the final question. Thank you '{ 13 ver.y much. .14 MR. BURRELL: I don't have any questions, 15 Mr. Casparia~, thank you, sir. 16 MR. RUDD: Mr. Chairman, that completes the 17 testimony for SAS and; in 'fact all'the testimony that I know of 18 that's plan~ed. I'd like to note in closin~ that all of th~ 19 testimony that was given today i~ predicated upon the installation 20 and the operation of the facilities that were described during 21 the hearing yesterday, and we simply want to point out that any Order entered as a result of this hearing 'sh~uld be coordinated in time with the Orders resulting from yesterday's ~earings. 22 ( 23 24 25 MR. ' BURRELL: Thank you, Mr. Rudd. MR. ANDERSON: Mr. Chairman, I might just ~1 R 8c R COURT REPORTERS 8215 WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE S 277.4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA ~9~OI ( ( Page 129 1 add if any o~ the operators have any further testimony that they (' 2 want to offer that I don't know about. 4 MR. BURRELL: Does that conclude MR. ANDERSON: Yes. MR. BURRELL: --- the testimony from the 3 5 6 operators then? 7 MR. ANDERSON: Yes, it does. 8 MR. BURRELL: We'll take a fifteen minute --- 9 well, let's --- well, all right,'we'll take a ten minute inter- and 10 mission here. We want to do a little talking here, /then'wet ll~'open 11 it up for questions from anybody from the floor. 12 (OFF THE RECORD), i(: 13 (ON' THE RECORD) 14 MR.' BURRELL: Is there anybody in the audience 15 who has any questions of,' any of the operators or anybody else? 16 Or any statements they have to make? Oh, one thing, yeah, if 18 anybody has any printed copies of their testimony, we'd apprecia-;e it; we can get it back if it's the only one you've got or some- thing, but it makes it an awful lot easier when we get to the 17 19' 20 reproduction stage; we'd appreciate it if you'd leave it with 21 Mr. Marshall here when you go on out. 22 I totalled up ali, the requests onshore and offshore; it .( 23, adds up to l3~6 million cubic feet per day. The current flares 24 are somwhere 'near ,ninety-five to a hundred million cubic feet 25 per day. So disregarding the Mobil problem, just assuming if ~1 R Be R COU RT REPORTERS eas WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE !5 277-4713 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 99501 (- 1(') 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 (-.\~ 23 24 25 ~1 f Page 130 ( 1 at all possible, 2 MR. THORNTON: You can't just disregard the 3 Mobil problem. 4 MR. BURRELL: We have to operate off our Order until the judge tells us differently. That's some fourteen per cent of the current 'flare, and that would be an improvement, 5 6 7 I think. I don't have anything else. We'll adjourn, thank 8 you. 9 END OF PROCEEDINGS R & R COURT REPORTERS .as WEST EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE ii5 277.4713 ANCHORAGE. ALASKA 99~Ot , . ( [' ( MECHANICAL ENGINEERING TESTIMONY ( My name is Richard Keller, and I am Area Engineer for Union Oil Company, Anchorage District, Alaska. My purpose here today is to describe the gas processing system and the need for safety pilots and to recommend sa fety pil at sizes for the Grayl i ng p 1 a tform. .~~,~,,:.;.~~"~..,.. The need and justification for safety flares in Cook Inlet oil and gas platform operations has been demonstrated by the Industry1s ex- cellent safety record. Hydrocarbon gas may be released through safety relief systems to the atmosphere instantaneously on these platforlns, resulting from such things as: 1. Compressor failures l 2. Excessively high pressure in vessels, piping, and compressors 3. Line' breaks and leaks 4. Power faï'lure, fuel failure 5. Fire 6. Excessive platform vibration High-rate gas surges resulting from such upsets cannot feasibly be handled in furnaces or other enclosed burning equipment. Facilities must be ( available to allow quick release and safe burning of the excess gas at an appropriate location. Properly designed safety flares have proven to be the most satisfactory systems available. The Cook Inlet platforms are unique as compared with platforms and production operations elsewhere in the world. The production areas of these platforms are enclosed, 'because of the severe weather conditions in Alaska, and typically, large throughput volumes of oil and gas are processed R. C. Ke 11 e r 5/11/72 ( I~ ( in very compact spaces. The enclosed areas of these platforms are not swept clear of hydrocarbon vapors by prevailing winds, as is the case on ( the open platfornls in other offshore areas. The various compartments on Cook Inlet platforms are continuously purged with fans to vent any hydrocarbon vapor accumulations which could result in explosive gas mix- tures inside the platform structµre. The need for safety flares on land is not as critical since onshore oil fields are usually laid out over several hundred acres. In many other offshore areas, platform flares or vents can be located on adjacent auxiliary structures at a safe distance from the platform, which also eliminates or minimizes the need for safety pilots.· The water depths and environment of the Cook Inlet make this type of operation impractical. ( It is imperative that our safety pilots, located on the platforms, be operational at all times, under severe temperature variations, high wind conditions, and minimum flow conditions, such that an instantaneous dis- charge of gas at high rates will be safely ignited and burned and not be forced back into the structure through the fresh air purge system. Union Oil Company operates the Grayling platform in the McArthur River Field~ Trading Bay Unit. This platform produces over 50,000 BOPD. We currently compress in excess of 55,000 MCF of gas per day. Approxi- mately 37,000 MCF per day of this gas is compressed to 1100 or 1300 psig ( and utilized as artificial lift gas to produce oil wells. The remaining produced gas is compressed to 250 psig for transportation to shore and platform fuel usage. This platform also processes and injects over 50,000 BWPD for pressure maintenance of the oil reservoir. I hope you can appre- ciate that this involves a large arnount of equipment installed in a small area. All of the Grayling equipment, including two drilling rigs, is R. C. Keller 5/11/72 -2- i'r"'- ( ( located on three decks, each approximately 100 feet square. We have a schematic drawing, Exhibit A, which illustrates the f gas flow on the platform as well as the safety relief and flare systems. Oil and gas from the producing wells enters a combination of five gas-oil separators. Here the gas is separated from the oil at 50~ psig and enters a common gas mánifold. The gas then goes to one of three existing compressor packages. We currently have installed a total of nine, eleven-hundred Horsepower turbine-driven, centrifugal compressors on the Grayling. We will be adding a tenth 1100 Hp compressor this fall to increase our gas lift capacity. The first gas lift compressor package consists of three 1100 ( Hp compressors operating in series. The gas goes through a cooler, scrubber, then the first stage compressor and is discharged at l50± psig. The gas then goes through another cooler, scrubber, then the second stage compressor and is discharged at 450± psig. The gas is again cooled and scrubbed and is finally discharged from the third stage compressor at 1300~ psig. This gas is cooled, then piped to the producing wells where it is utilized in lifting tDe oil and is continu- ously recycled. The second gas lift compressor package operates in a similar manner, except that there are only two stages of compression, and two t 1100 Hp compressors operate in parallel in each stage. The discharge pressure of this package is 1100-2.- psig. The new 1100 Hp compressor which will be installed this fall will tie into the first stage discharge of the two gas lift packages and will result in increased gas lift capacity. It will also tie into the R. C. Keller 5/11/72 -3- ,{' ( ( .. gas to shore system for added flexibility. The third compressor package is \,,,hat we call our IIgas to shorell ( system. It consists of two 1100 Hp compressors in parallel, and the opera- tion is similar to the other packages previously mentioned. Gas discharged from these compressors goes through a cooler, scrubber, than a glycol con- tactor, which dehydrates the gas prior to shipment to shore. These two compressors have a combined capacity of 20,000 MCF per day. Solution gas produced with the oil is currently averaging approximately 18,000 MCF per day. We can obtain fuel gas for our equipment at the dis~harge of these compressors. Our current fuel gas requirement on this platform averages 6,500 MCF/D, which is more gas than many platforms even produce. The Grayling platform, then, has adequate facilities to compress ( and transport all produced gas to shore, but we do need to main in ade- quate safety p-ilots on the platform flares. This platform has two safety flares on it because of the large volume of gas conlpressed and the number of compressors on board. We feel that two flares are needed here in order to safely dissipate the tremendous heat evolved under emergency flare condi- tions. Under emergency, or unscheduled shut-down conditions, when all com- pressors go 'down and vent at o~ce, it is estimated that an instantaneous discharge rate of over 100,000 MCF per day is released in a matter of seconds. Our experience has shown that approximately 1,000 MCF per day per flare is needed to maintain a safety pilot under adverse wind condi- ( tions such that a sudden gas discharge will not extinguish the flare. If the flare is extinguished, the, hydrocarbon vapors released could be induced back into the platform by the various purge fans, thereby creating a poten- tially dangerous situation. R. C. Keller 5/11/72 -4- li~· (' Union Oil Company is determined to transport all possible pro- duced gas thrcu0~¡ the new gas gathering system now being constructed and { to maintain minimum safety pilots on the platform, consistent with sound safety practices. Of paramount importance to us are the lives of our people on the platform, but also to be considered is the sizeable plat- form investment and future prodðction, all of which depend upon maintain- ing a safe operation. We therefore respectfully recommend that the Conservation Com- mittee assign 1,000 MCFjD per flare on a monthly average basis for the safety pilot sizes on the Grayling platform. That concludes my testimony. ( l R. C. Keller 5/11/72 -5- , ~ l ( ( MECHANICAL ENGINEERING TESTIMONY ( My name is Richard Keller, and I am Area Engineer for Union Oil Company~ Anchorage District~ Alaska. My purpose here today is to describe the gas processing system and the,need for safety pilots, and to '11 recommend safety pilot s'izes for the Monopod platform. ......-_...c::..:;¡: ...c".~~....,.,..,.' I have testified previously as to why safety pilots are re- quired on Cook Inlet platforms and will now discuss only the Monopod. I wish to have my previous general comments rega.rding the Grayling plat- form incorporated into this testimony. Union Oil Company operates the Monopod platform in the Trading Bay Field. This platform produces approximatly 15~OOO BOPD. It also has ( the capacity to process and inject 65,000 BWPD. As stated yesterday, we are in the process of installing five new compressors on this platform in order to comp 1 y vJi tll Conserva t i on Order No. 103. These new compressors and related equipment should be in operation by September 1, 1972. We are currently flaring in excess of 7~OOO MCF per day of casinghead gas on the Monopod because of our inability to compress and treat all produced gas. We have' not· had the equipment to draw the t,10no·· pod flares down to pilot size, as we have had on the Grayling platform. Exhibit A is a schematic drawing showing the way our new gas process flow, safety relief, and flare systems will look when the new ( compressors and related equipment,have been installed. Oil and casinghead ga~ from the producing wells enters a com- bination of four gas-oil separators. The gas and oil are separated at a -1-- pressure of 50_ psig and the gas enters a common manifold. The gas then R. c. Ke 11 er 5/12/72 I ( goes through a pre-compressor scrubber to the suction of two 3300 Hp, turbine-driven, tandem compressor sets. Two centrifugal compressors are ( driven from each 3300 Hp turbine. Gas enters the first stage compressor of each set, is discharged at 185 psig, goes through a cooler, scrubber, then to the second stage compressor and discharged at 500 psig. The gas from each compressor set is then cooled, combined, and scrubbed a final time before being dehydrated in the glycol contactor for transportation to shore. The capacity of these two tandem compressor sets is in excess of 35,000 MCF per day. t Gas lift gas can be obtained either upstream or downstream of the glycol contactor. As much as 14,000 MCF per day of gas lift gas can be compressed from 500 to 1100 psig by the 1100 Hp turbine-driven com- pressor. This gas will be used to artificially lift fluids from the wells and will be continuously recirculated. Fuel for the platform equipment will be obtained upstream of the contactor. Platform fuel gas requirements will be approximately 4,000 MCF per day when the new system is operational. In view of our current solution gas production being approxi- mately 15,000 MCF per day, it is evident the Monopod platform will have more than adequate compression capacity to transport all produced gas to shore. The Monopod platform, like the Grayling, has two safety flares in order to safely dissipate the heat evolved under emergency flare condi- tions. { It is estimated that with the new system operating, an instan- taneous flare discharge rate of 178,000 MCF per day would occur within seconds after a total compressor shut-down. ( ! R. C. Keller 5/12/72 -2- f ( Due to the similarity of equipment, gas compression require- ments, and flare configurations between the Monopod and Grayling plat- ( forms, it is anticipated that approximately 1,000 MCF per day per flare will be required to maintain the pilots in a lighted condition under ad- verse wind conditions such that an instantaneous gas discharge will not extinguish the pilots. The lives of our men on the platform depend upon maintaining a safe operation. These safety pilots will be kept to a minimum rate, consistent \^/ith sound safety practices and all excess casinghead gas will be trans- ported ~o shore for disposition. We, therefore, respectfully recommend that the Conservation ( Committee assign 1 ,000 MCF per day per flare, on a monthly average basis, for the safety pi 1 ot si zes on the ~~onopod p la tform. That concludes my testimony. t ( / \ R. C. Keller 5/12/72 -3- :.. , (~.' ( ( ENGINEERING TESTIHONY ATLANTIC RICHFIELD COHPANY ALASKA OIL AND GAS CONSERVATION CO~lliITTEEHEARING MCARTHUR RIVER FIELD--CONSERVATION ORDER NO. 114 MAY 12, 1972 {' Atlantic Richfield Company operates Platform King as a suboperator in the Trading Bay Unit of MeArthur River Field. Exhibit 1 shows the location of this platform in relation to the other platforms in the field, the outline of the field based on the approximate productive limits, and Trading Bay onshore 'production facilities. Platform King production comes from t'en wells wi th twelve completions in the "G", Wes t Forelands, and Hemlock pools. Daily production is 26,500 BOPD, 2200 BWPD, and 8500 }lCFPD of gas. A rotative gas-lift system provides 23,000 MCFPD of high-pressure gas for artificial lift purposes. Apprdximately 70,000 BPD of filtered and treated Cook Inlet water is injected in four wells on the platform as a part (' of the field's waterflood program. ~latform King has two enclosed deck levels measuring approximately 110' square. . Referring to Exhibit 2, equipment on the platform includes oil and gas separ- ation equipment, two 2125 HP Worthington Mainliner compressors, one 1100 HP Solar-York centrifugal compressor, one 6000 HP Nordberg turbine-powered water injection pump with related water filtering equipment and deaeration tower, two 1250 ~v electric generators powered by Ruston turbines, two 1500 KW generators driven by General Motors diesels for rig power and standby, one 350 HP boiler, and a variety of other related producing and drilling equipment. Normal manpower on the platform without rig operation is about 25 people. ( The flare system on Platform King consists of thre.è flare lines. A twelve- C' inch low-pressure flare handles gas flashed from the first-stage suction scrubbers of the Worthington Mainliner compressors and oxygen enriched gas from the deaeration tm.¡er. The main flare system, or high-pressure flare "( f ( { C.·~~"" ". ( l ( system, isa 24-inch flare boom that handles gas relieved from the system between the oil and gas separators and the compressors. This system provides the primary relief in the event of a surge in production, compressor shutdo\vn, electric power failure, or other upset in the facilities. ,A third linê 12 inches in diameter ties into the pressure relief valve and rupture disc systems throughout the production facilities. A John Zink clean-burning flare tip installed on the high and low pressure flares is designed so that the burners on these two flare systems are separated by several feet at the end of the flare boom. Proper operation of these clean-burning flare tips requires the use of aspirator gas equivalent to about 30 percent of the total flared volume at minimum safety pilot conditions. As the d~scription of the King Platform and its equipment indicates, platforms in the Cook Intet \;a~ers are extremely· complex and rather lIDique in design. They are relatively small compact platforms that are heavily laden with equip- merit. The equipment is quite reliable, but any equipment is subject to failure. ) Due to climatic conditions, the platforms in the Inlet are almost fully enclosed This is somewhat different from the normal open design for most other offshore areas. Extensive measures must be taken to prevent dangerous concentrations of gas in inclosed platform areas to minimize the accompanying risk of fire or explosion on a platform. The unique conditions in the Cook Inlet also reqUl.re that . many' systems which are separated where conditions permit are in this case all contained on a common platform. It is common practice in other areas to have'separat~on equipment, compressors, and fired vessels separated. Safety fea~ures must be quitè extensive to protect lif~ and property in any offshore operations. There are obviously some special" considerations for the Cook Inlet type of operation. Provisions must be made for the safe release of gas when there are surges in produc tion which cannot be otherwise handled or \V'hen there . , :.. " ' ( ,( (' . ' , . are shutdow.ns due to'mechanical or electrical failures. Production surges are especially common'in gas lift operations. The ?pecial,con- siderations diseussed make it necessary that all pressure release of J gaseous vapors be gathered and carried to a remote flare for complete combustion in order to protect the platform, its occupants, and equipment. The minimum safety pilot volume is undoubtedly related to many factors including but not limited to equipment complexity, total system design, system'volumes, and flow rates handled. However, ,there is no precedent or generally accepted engineering procedure for establishing a minimum safety pilot size for operations having the unique design and operating "èonditions of the Cook In~~t platforms. The minimum volume must ensure that a pilot will be maintained during variable wind conditions and provide positive ignition of any sudden release of gas caused by an upset or failure (' which brings about an excessive pressure in any system. Our recommended .. mi~imum safety pilot size is based on the judgment 'of experienced operating ) personnel who are thoroughly familiar with the daily operations of this platform. It also gives full consideration to the need for minimum flare yolumes from platforms in the Inlet under existing Conservation Committee orders. On this basis, we recommend a safety pilot volume for King Platforlli " of 800 MCFPD on a monthly average basis. Exhibit 3 shows a schematic drawing of Platform King's facilities with gas 'volum~s for operation under minimum safety pilot conditions. Under these { operating conditions, 31',940 HCFPD of gas is flashed from the oil and gas separators. This volume includes gas-lift gas, solution gas, flash of ,( ...,,- ~ .. : .4 '..' .~,.'.:"~,_, ..1f~~i~"S fro'm all scrubbers throughout the system operating at a higher . près'sure, 'and flash" gas from the crude surge tank. Gas from the crude surge tank is not now being compressed and put back into the inlet gas stream, -q- ( { ( but we plan to convert an existing compressor on the platform to this service. The minimum safety pilot volume of 800 MCFPD is sho~yn on this ( diagram. The remaining produced gas from the separators totaling 31,140 MCFPD is delivered to the suction of the compressors. 7140 MCFPD of this gas goes to the Solar-York booster compressor which discharges at about 300 psig. 3500 MCFPD of the gas from the booster compressor goes to the fuel system. This includes gas used for the Ruston turbine-powered gener- ators, the Nordberg turbine which ~lrives the water injection pump, the Solar turbine powered compressor, steam generation equipment, boilers, filter flush, and deaeration for removal of oxygen from injected water. Fuel, for the Worthington compressors is being supplied by gas-we11 gas due to detonation and maintenance problems that have been experienced with ( casinghead gas fuel. We are currently working with Worthington represent- atives in an effort to modify the Worthington fuel system so thétt these comPressors will also operate satisfactorily from the casinghead gas fuel ) system. The remaining 3640 }1CFPD of gas discharged from the Solar-York compressor will be delivered to shore to be processed by the Trading Bay production facility Liquid Extraction Plant and subsequently compressed for delivery to the gas pipeline now being constructed by Union and Marathon. Referring back to the compressor suctions on Exhibit 3, 24,000 MCFPD of gas from the primary separators is delivered to the two Worthington Mainliner compressors. These compressors serve the rotative gas-lift system. The suction volume is reduced by 1200 MCFPD due to shrinkage t from condensation in the compression process. The remaining 22,800 MCFPD of gas discharged from these compressors is returned to the gas-lift system. c , ,. ... ~, '. , . f ( i ( .. . ' ( ( . - In summary, I have discussed the highly complex, compact, and enclosed con~itions that ·make Cook Inlet platforms unique. Although the equipment onbo~rd King Platform is capable of theoretically handling all produced casinghead gas without a flare, the unique nature of the platform makes it essential that a safety pilot be maintained for safe operations. To provide this safety, the pilot must ensure positiÿe ignition of any sudden release of gas to the flare system. We found no precedent or commonly accepted engineering practice for calculating a minimum safety pilot size for the unique Cook Inlet type of operation. Our recommended minimum safety pilot size is a balance of the judgment of our operating person~el who are most familiar with the platform and the recognized necessity for minimum flare volumes from platforms in the Cook Inlet under existing Conservation Committee orders. Atlantic Richfield Company respectfully requests the assignment of a safety pilot volume of 800 MCFPD on an average monthly basis' for the King S~lmon Platform. That concludes my direct testimony. Thank you for your attention. ( .r ( SHORE SITE TESTIMONY - MAX BEAZLEY .( Treatment of the crude ·oil at the Granite Point Shore site involves heating and weathering, so some gas must be handled at atmospheric pressure. At the present time, the gas evolved in the weathering is burned in a shore site flare. This gas is not measured, but is thought to be less than 100 MCFD. Vent añd safety relief valves are also connected to this flare system so in the event of mechanical shutdown or overpressure, sub- stantially more than this amount can be flared. The only gas handled under pressure at the shore site is an average of 1,000 MCFD of gas sold to ARCO and about 200 MCFD used for fuel. The fuel gas is used for heat, in the crude oil heater treater, and the glycol heaters, ãnd for fuel for power generation, instrument air 'compression, and crude oil pumping. ( { PROCESS FLC/.... Sf-'~ET SALES G':'S.G:'S LI~ T. A~;'J ~~L.:~:' SYSTEMS i ~_."n_-' ·-____·__4 "",-"<",,~_r-.. . ---- p-·¡J;2-,')1 ¡r- ;---. um:;n ~__-:-__~ - '':'.:.._ .J ;*J;~!í- ~<";"A~:~~~~~mJ~ -+-=--P' ,~Ak.,R~VJ~IOH:; - - _I .' ,-,t==, - ---,----' ~ -'--""0# W1 ¿¡.--'.-..-----'==-:--.~~ - ~===':;"i'l'!: ..- .-------. f'!' / : t.t7' P. I A .... -Ço '\. 141\.. 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GAS UFT I GAS TO SHORE OIL TO SHORE I L-:- TlJ>JHE /"-YF;JEL G.U : c. ~ H P. FLARr ~ I '-:=::::- LP.FLAR£ 1 .' '-'" ~ I - I d I SoW I I VUH I I SCRBR, _ b~ --q;J u.,.....'''' { '""' c:. ~ ; F1.ARE I I SCRBR, I 8 l ;5-+1 ~, FG ' ~B,:o I-~ P I ~ {. ""OV "1 EXHIBIT A I'~w~ J -B~ r . I J í~ .-- i DRAJIf 1 ! TANK i b::J ~ · \S -. It' £!i!!r f ' I ~. II I , £-J ß-l, ~--l lïz~ m~:: ¡ I 'ANK!--- -'-1 f- i~ \....J. 0, )4 I . ./ CONDENSATE < l>4 I .g ~C~' !SCR~ I . I ~~ ~ D H.P. GAS SCRUBBER Mð'A..0ð'Þ d f r~ UlSCH. SCRBR, aA OIL ;.0 f\ I ì !J !Ð I ~ ,'I NO,2 ( , ¡ GROSS \1 {I ÚI.\I~~ f" 7;' £(;028 - ~ ... '.' .... ~. ''''1:!. . .......-.. ;25-1, -!INT-]INT., ~ I ""'~ ~ ~~ ~-& I 0 ç-~ ,¡, - I -, ~\~~ 4 :"1 w · ·~oo. r !t-' ' 1 HP I t GAS..... ; GAS , OIL ~ 1\ i r I ~J ,-1' N02 ( TEST .... ~ ~. PRE " . iCOM.P.. ~~. k~ 'SCRBR, ~_ ~UEL I GLYCOl.. i CONTACTOR Ju, r,~ ~ GAS GAS I. I I I. I .- " ~~ /~~Î\ I ¡ GROSS I \ \1 'J :4' -.. I ,~ , ... . ,Î-'-NQi~ i I n:ST I " fV i "..-. 10' FLARE {~ ( V-3 ~ . ( C:Ude ( LV-2 ) , ',' JStor~ge \. --òÞo- ~, - C V-l) ,~ l ~. L 0/ g , Separators "'- r j r r ~ Well C1eanout Tank V I' ! , '" ( V-4 '& ø " (' ! ~[>ql ~ X ~ ,~~ ¡, ~ ~ fi~ 2501/= Dehy ø ~ Cooper - GMVA-12 ~ ~ _ t' - , To Clark " ;. r ~ tk---p....'" Rl:i 401F ; 1101/= « ~~ ~ ¿ " ~ Deaerato'r -< ~ ) " " r " ......., ~ r- Æ,l:::t ,~; 'Stabilizer ' ¿ )J. J 1>4 ~ ft1 0 (¡, 10 ,I (0 v. r · GRANITE POINT GAS FACILITY - ,: ,EXHIBIT, #1 Co, lit( r )0 ~ø Ä \... TI 10001/= ) Fuè1 ( Clark 3501/= Clark 10D01f: v Gas To ~- Shoresite Gas} Lift ---" '------ !Alia ~_LL'7,) ~ GO ?SIC ~ ;:..~. :~;~"~~~[l' SEPARAT~I? ì· ~. ;-^......~¡,;"'....~ ~ £ ((¡ () 1..5 J /) IV , 0 - " , . -. ...... . -, _. , " .... A/vloeo ,PRO/JVC7-/0/:/ ,('0. GAS FLOJ¡./ SCf//:.-11,4TI.C GRA/>/ITE PO/NT PLATFORM' ANNA -- ,>--: l , SCRlJ33E~ ., \,/' v 9 -{)J<3 ~ 2opslc- tÐkJ ., FR~5· WATE~ 1 ~ l }(llæKO:;r- ~ . _ .n_." _ ""' 'f , , , " 0' " , ," , . 4 . ,. I rIll ~ !... ",U Q. :>: ¡:ltI~ FI1II t COOlER 1~ ~.¡ I r--¡ , ! 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' . .. o " 0, , , - - ~ . ~ , . , ' v ~ ¡:/IÝ~ F¡:JrI COOL::/¿ , /5 X If /,i:) 1 T 2- éJmee ill./¿ ~ Q ,~ H , ¡ --.J. -LJ ~. , I '--" ':;CRUS&ER. ::þ1 l , CEIITRIPr.X;¡:¡t.- G;) S COI1PRé.:;:5<)!\ ~ c*J REL/£P ¡ pUl?æ CIJ..$ ~ " SCI!(JßSßR GLYCOL. D&lýò,t¿)J~ \..( Î '" FuE '- GIJ.s I ' rANI<. VEt/r r pI,¡ ~~s C.qs :..-- r ' 7~:. : ~ i !' "í,l)JJK. 01 ,/ '.. P I P~I.IIJE .$}I/PP/IIJ(, pump .,". \- rj h Cfl¡';;?Gr~ , PU1'14P . . a Î1ETE~ -:-ï F/LTE~- SCJZUSBi:=¡Ç ( ) ( S- ¡a'Jo~I\(){,)r JJR¡)/11S . . 11 ZZ5 P.':¡:; ;, £'XCES S . G.4S TO oS II ¿; 1<2E. ,SAFETY PI.LOr ~ 1/5 PS/Gr ....,... 0/1- TO $IJOR¡¡;' , ---..----.. '\ rJ\ -- l' a.J -I- _ {-l AIY/OCO PROOtJCT/O/V co. GAS ;=LOW SCflEI1I1T/C MIDDLE GROUND -Sf/OAL PLATFORM BAkER .. ~~~- t;,o,PS/';' ~ ,;' 'f , ,~ SEPARliTðR : ~ PRO[)(,)CfD L , J--!)4(J- £mVJ..SIDW .... (' - , lSCRu88é/Z' "; v y ~ ~ ~OPS/~ $ ~ FREE-. 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S;I¡PP/NC, pl.Jftì p Q C¡'¡~/tG1Z ·purnp 'Ai/K. 70ff.' ~ ì r ~ I ~I I , rANI< VEN!:./ PUR~G C/JS - ~ 2opslG- rÇkJ f , -t' FR¡;¿;·. WATEK. i ~ )<1JC:JKOI"I'r J-Dk3-. A RELIEF I.. PURG¡: CIi.5 ~ ÞkJ :~ <: FuS L- GAS 'wi Z 75 PSIf;- ¡I ) ~ ~ltI- FI1/'1 I~ ~ COOLER ,Ex CE5 S I I I GAS TO L(1" - ---I I ! I ' I I ( I S¡ltJ¡¿£ ' ~ ¡ 0 -t :--1 ' 7ÌU 7T ) J lSCRUß3E~ L.... L-,.. \' ..5CRUB5ER., !?£C¡PROCfI rlllG- SC/!fJß8EI¿ GL'(COL GFJ S COHPRé~()1\. j)E//lf)RATtX E i¡-// BJT: 4 ~ o!ìì()e 1:k, SOUTH MJDD¿EGROUND SHOAL PLATFORM D)LL ON A/10CO PRO/)(JCTIO/V CO. GAS ;=L 0 j¡t/ S C f/ /::.-1111 TIC - -- r- ,~ ~ (,opSlr r* PRoMC ED l $£ P FlRIJ TOR ' .c:::::::. Em<Jl$ml . "....¡;k¡.... ,'-" ;,-ß~ GAS FROM ¡.. COMPo - DISCHARGE -'<' --- PRODUCING ~ GROUP SEPERATORS T þ ( .~ .GA; OIL T .. ( þ ~-:;. ~ ~Þ- ~ --I GAS OIL ~ _.~ ~-~~ ~ " ~--~ I SURGE VESSELS ¡--co--- ~ I~~ --" w ~ c .. .-.- ON DECK IAtiK --( GIRDER ------o.:J-, Á t c:::::::::> .. If" . t ,....-".--'---,-'~,-~'":., TANK ) WATER I" (-/ rr'~ t:- w 'i þ GAS TO SHORE It. ~ ~ ~ SALES GAS r-J COMPRESSORS r-:i .- w ~~ Þð .Á.. .. ~ .. " .. w --i GROUP "ð 4-- SCRUBBER ~.. ~ " " - -i y Þð ~ ,þ 4-- þ r---l ' -. -"~"-'."' þ GAS LIFT ., 1<1' COMPRESSORS ., -:l If . " A w . H,P. FUEL GAS ~ ~ // H,P. RELIEF 'l .'" COMPRESSOR I "'/" ,-,. -)t COMPRESSOR 2 "'..J" ¡¡, COMPRESSOR 3,;zC'~' L. P. REl.I~.F _~{:;-:"'l TANK VENT //" .. , -,-, ... ~ TOWER VEN't(" V,¡ ¡ . i~\---1..-MJrL.:;:--::--'"""J:TA- "-::..-- þ , þ -. þ ,r-- -' . :.~ ~- v~ , -~ t ,- ._-'''~---'11¡ .. 'If s- -rJ_"'":--:-:.':-..11f":T~ -~_T- - ---" ",- .,-( ~ - ._-~.- -- r-- --- OXYGEN STRIPPING _ TOWER ~, _ ' -4~"'- '~"'" I ¡ ,~ -~- , _:r<c~:L ~ b' -:i'''ID'-'Y' ,- ...---·f (j SURGE GAS ¿;2O:1 ~ WATER þ OUT SA S EXHIBIT I) SIMPLIFIED FLOW DIAGRAM TYPICAL PLATFORM GAS DISPOSAL SYSTEM CO. II~ S'~ t Ll 0 \ I (tJ. , r, t:(' TO Þ GAS LIFT WELLS TO FLARE BOOM ~ ~ ~ 0) 't- N ) ) ~i o tlG 0\ ~.~ i o (i ~ ~ ) ~ ~ ~ ...-. """ o "X) ~ r- "'> 'Z. o ~-f~ IIVf /7 o'f. ) i 'v~ \~ PRODUCTIVE ~IMIJ -a"DOllY VARDEN" ~ .. ~\ '..-~ ~--. ,,',' ,. 'U ALAS~)~, ':"¡:L G· d G CONSEF{VAi" I\..:r-.! C(.'.\ Iii ITTEE hr ¡{CO EXHISiT*, */tY ''If C.Ð.FILE . r' . ~ "... . _ . _ _, _ - -"" 1 .. _ ...------- . EXHIBIT t AtlanticRichfieldCompany <> McARTHUR RIVER FIELD HEARING MAY 12, 1972 lOCATION MAP EXHIBIT 2 AtlanticRichfieldCompany <> McARTHUR RIVER FIELD HEARl NG MAY 12, 1972 KING SALMON PLATFORM , ~"LU~"".^TI" r\l ^~O^IU _ø- PUMP -ø-- HEAT ~Oi .uJGEA ~ eLCXW: ~VE -®-- I/O'TQOo1ET e II: -@- LIOU'D I-1nER -Lt-- P2E5SUIŒ C()1TI'OUEIt --11-- o~lce ..,nEIl _ GAS LI~E -L- LIQUID LiLJE LEGEND --... ~I . ~-1 ."" ----t I .1(,; ----t I .. Ie,' ----t , .. Ie,., ~I . ",1<; G"'~ LIFT Io1ALJIRJLD WH\.~D \l"1,\j. Z ~~~1 ~'?~~'L~ ~ 'M:)lrnm.lG1CU ~ ..~ ~ WOI!'1H\UCi~J FU¡¿' ~ R\J~t,\ ~I.ÆL 2:~~;LJ ~:L IIcnE ( r lIlL {p ~ ~ $It.o\M GELJ FUEl s.cu... <a l --, I/IX'U!Iffi ¡ UEl FI\.!tr flUi,H œAER~ 'I1:ILP"O~ ~ ~ GAS I!) SUOPE . ~ 1 ----41' 1(-1 .. Z~ .. "---11------ 1(,) ----11-__. 1(,10 .. ---1 J---..--.. ~. ,t . ~J-------- (-JO L I ~ II:~ J . L ---~ ~ L L--L_ I SO!UB5EII: &lru813E£ I I I k:'1t\JG PLATFOEM PEODUCTIOt\l SYSTEH5 r GAS \.II'T ",.wl~~ YÆllÆ.'\Ð !1w.. ...~ , ~ 1/1 4 = .. L , OIL TO SHOn ~#l cPTL0L I SH'PPltJG ~UMPS .( 'G'& WF '?,' .' ..I~. · H ) .( T£ßT ,~,'~ n( ,. ~,~ L L _ -1.'. He~Loc.lC G I l' '-' ~ 1J3r- 1--" ~s J ! ' I I · I : ""'.U~'OU ," . I t.J01EST ~ I L .. ~PARA'rO"S ,------'-=i I 1- r- ,.';.~ CIZUDE, SU2GE........ ... __'....... I-,--,~__-r~·"-.:; L~ " ~SEL 1>. Ó '- 1'-_1 . . "C:'). _ ¡p 9 -..... .0' '. -'-1z . () '(J)~' L 'O~ç <(/) » ~^ 0 ~):> 0 ~Q 0 m r 0 -0 (") 0 -- --4 O:3<Ð ('11 ~ a. . 0 , ,~G> ".~.' . -i ÞO ..... r;tU> , f11 ~ -rJ ~ -+ r- L .. fTt· ~ ii· ::¡ * -...... ""'" it cPJL WOI2'THI~GTOtJ }.1A1~UtJE.~ L ---( ~...) --(~..) . .' L ... ~ n" .05. I T Y. ~. ~ 'L 1lLL~ C01JDEIoJ5.U'E··~ VESSEL ,.- · ~s L -- ~ -I- SCIW&eEIZ . )0 --------- , i 1 _L I- I~ . L ) ~, ? S -\ OVERFLOW TA)JK ) 00 ........ WOI2THltJGTON MA'~lItJEP .t DEHYDeATO~ .. r'\./"'\.-L~ SOlA£- "'02~ yT . --r--' . '4 "'- _f¿~ L - L L___ 5C~e&R tJßSD2BER SClaJeeElZ £1 ~I ASPlIV<IDR LIIJE5 ~ WIGHPI!EISUItE ( 0, DØJM ,~L ~ Lnw PIlES~fi K.O, t>lWM ". I-OW PI<'£S'30IlE flARE .. HIGH PV£5sulfE fLAJŒ RELIEF S:LARE ~ ~. :~-, r} ..... ~ ]: '""" -0 33,010 Mcf/D . -'-f.---- PRODUCED GAS 8475 Mcf/D ,. INJECTED GAS 221800 Mef/O /' SAFETY PILOT · I 800 Mcf/D HIGH ffiESSURE FLARE LOW PRESSURE FLARE (ATMOSPÆRIC) . . B(x)sTER COMPRESSOR 800 MetA) 1140 Wdlb . 3~140Mcf/O GAS LIFT · I COM PRESSOR 3'1940 Mef/D 241000 Md/D PRODUCTION SEPARATOR SHRINKAGE 1200 Met/D ~ __ __ ~ 23~M2¿P ___ I COMPRESSOR ì ... CRuDe SURGE VE SSE L 1070 MeflO '-", ~. I 500 Mcf/D DEAERATION TOWER _. fQ() Mcf/O ,.. ~ , TO FUEL 3500 Mef/O . GAS TO SHORE 3640 Md /0 , TO GAS LlF T 221800 "'~flD t- ACCEPTED Date S-/to/í'L ALASKA QJL and GAS CONSERVATION COMMITTEE A.f«( 0 EXHIBIT* "3 *//ý V' ~ j~ .~ C.o. FIL E 01 L TO SHORE 535 Mcf/D . EXHIBIT 3 AtlanticRichfieldCompany <> McARTHUR RIVER FIELD HEARING MAY 12,1972 KING SALMON PLATFORM GAS BALANCE ,,-, /......~. ~ 3" PILOT ~ý ~~ ,- vrfl(!.f:,.I T" c;.I '--, I" PILOT IGNITION GAS IGNITION G~// o N - -l" PRESSURE FLARE ~ ó (I 9 " 't--- (-4 ~ "" . ......., 24" MAIN FLARE 1i1' { .~- -r .. , . . 12" RELI EF VENT - I ( - . C.O. /1'-/ ~ )C ~ f (, . f ~ l AtlanticRichfieldCompany <> KING SALMON PLATFORM PLAN VIEW JOHN ZINK SMOKELESS FLARE TIPS and PIPING DETAILS FOR FLARE BOOM ( ( 1-- --l TRADING BAY FIELD HEARING MA Y 12, 1972 ATLANTIC RICHFIELD COMPANY EXHIBITS l_ ~ ( f ( / ( ( (" GRANITE PT. ONSHORE FAClUTIES - ( , , ~ ~ " ~ \ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~' ~'v \ PLATFORM "SPARK" ~ o o V IIAII ~NT8U PRODUCTIVE ; LIMITS PLATFORM v ( "MONOPOO" EXHIBIT I AtlanticR ichfieldCompany(> TRADING BAY FlELD HEARING MAY 12,1972 LOCATION MAP 7- i·t H.'f 2-1 CS~W'1f _3 ,f, IU 17J ~- ~, ---.. LOW PJ('E5SURE,.. FLA~E " \-\ \ t., \-\ PfU:..C,c.,U Q.~ A"-l D t2. E. \- \1!...FF \.to.o..E.. þ, ,,-... ...--... Co¡ 14C. Ii ~C.Q.ù6 gc>r ö:f} A A OU T'1\ 0 E. SC.U6eÆ:1Z. -, .- ~ -.. ..,.. -.....- '-(.............. fUf!.L ('1A~ ~ . . PEC.O C.O\.APItE~c,O~ ~J F\\.-"t:.~ .Ã1 I I - I Þ ~C "'X"I .( ~¡~"",TOI~~ ~ a l ) i~ <\1-3) PQ.oo\x:not-l ......... C,~DÞ.t2.A\OR- L L L l--. ~t~UDE.. ..... \.. "UQ(i E.. T A t-.J "- >~ *' ~ -f1 fl el~ \.\~ l\it.. £.. FUE..\.. -~ 1~A\L£.. tL F"UE..L ,-- - .- - - ....... ,. ..... à~hOIZ.ßO~ L. 'tOl AQ.. ~u£.. L 1., ~~~ _;E..L Por '¡C.~Vð&.e., ..,... \- TO ß\..O\'t(A'-\L + f1 !j ( f\) .f --.. tv \ t' x- A . " r L .... --- ;.. PE<:.O flL 'EIZ... L - L ~ ..-..... - L ~+-L 'í L--=:1 Lt !,LQ'....c.ÞÞiE.) L -~ coopre. ßESStM[Q fM-~ ~ L &,~,,?P'f..,)c., PU,-^P', GA.S LI~E To S~R~ L -t><t-f f 'T \- 'f L-~ --. åA, LIFT MAWFOLD"l ---H I Þ' 1,-4- -----II Þ TCo¡-lø "---0 ~ 1~-T l-- OL TO ')OO~E. L L L L-- Pl A \-fO 2. M II ~\\ EXHIBIT 2 A tlanticR ichfie IdCom pany TRADING BAY FIELD HEARING MAY 12,1972 PLATFORM IIA" SCHEMAT I C DIAGRAM ~~ ~, t ~ RELlEÇ" FLARE. 't-J ~ t:) š rJ \.t-I ... ' L ----/" ~, ,--.., " l.O\~ P2.Eh"\)~E 'f-\.o.fZ.E- ~ r---.. .... ~ " \.,,(,H. PIU:.c:,~U¡z,.E- f- ~ Þ-t2,.E. ~ '-IIC,," Pl2ECA . 11..0 D..\M y' ë l ~L ----A--r'\-L I n ~) '~ Tt:... <;,. ) · . ,tcPål'ATP"-. . ~- '^ I II fî ( \ PIZODUCTtoN L' --+ ~!!PA~A"OR. a \ f-®+ l L y L- '""---,). ) " ~ "-- L----i" (~~'U ) ~. Pt T~ · y ~eUDE, ....·l $ c, U 1L('t E., L ~ L ---+ 'E.,C,LL. '- ./ L ¡ L LO\~ PIZ,EC;c,\>U,e.- \L.O" DtZ.\J\I\ - (iA«; LIFT MA~\ÇOL.D' WELl\-\EðD t200M to.10, ~ --i ¡-----. ~ I A-t --+ ~-1 -H---~ ,- ~ -H---~ ,,- I) -t~ '»-1 ) ) WE.LL\.\EAD ~O, I , ..-J -. þ 4-L '( y Clß\2\é C.lA-\O -H---~ '7" 8 L L w Ft 11 NOQD~EeC, f\)~L- ( r r""\ " ~ .- .. 11 NOIZ.DðEtL~ F~\')fL- 'i"l BO I U:. 12. F \) E- .;- L fI ~O\L~ F0E..') ~L ~ fI ~OQ.:n-4't-.l~iO\o..l,> F~L .. ------/"')J" ~ GAS LI..,¡E TO SHORE ) H.J E: L : rtl L ---r-; W L '1. '( C:rAC) ~ ... í +ORT~I~GTO\.J ~ SCIZW," To L. ~ tu~ -L0 A fJ 1(.,0. DZ~~ .-", L DE-A e..tUn'O~ V f1 ~þ L ) w cPJ1 - 4HIPPI"'¡C, pu,""P'1 L L 01 L TO ~~OIZ-E- L Pl AT fOI2.M EXHIBIT 3 A tlanticR ich Ii e Id Com pany TRADING BAY FIELD HEARING MAY 12,1972 PLATFORM SPARK ~~~·U~Mo.TI~ nlå~RdM .J~ ~, ) PA~\é GAS FROM ~ MOBIL-UNION 750 Mcf/D ' . ,) TO FUEL 1-:00 Mef/D , ,.. . 50 Mef/D -- 250 ~f/D DEAERATION TOWER ON -SHORE FACILITY 430 Mcf/D þ ~ - 'II 180 Mcf/D ~ . ~" ~, I EXHIBIT 4 A tlanticR ichfie Id Com pany TRADING BAY FIELD HEARING MAY 12,1972 PLATFORMS'Ä1 B SPARK GAS BALANCE ~ .. GAS FROM SHORE 500 Mcf/D 'f' 900 Mcf/D J- 12600 Mcf/D 50 Mcf/D . ---, .. TO GAS LIFT 3120 McffP GAS TO SHORE 180 Mcf/ D ) Oil TO SHORE 120 Mcf/D ) SPARK PLA TFOR M SHRINKAGE , 700 Mcf/D ~ 14200, Mcf/D 'COMPRESSORS' :> l ( LOW PRESSUF£ FLARE ( ATMOSPHERIC) .. A PLATFORM Oil TO SHÒRE TO FUEL 500 Mcf/D III 160; Mef/D SHR,ÌNKAGE 200' Mcf/D ~ 4000 MctlD COMPRESSOR HIGH PRESSURE FLARE 240 Mcf/D ~~, I I 4 ! PRODUCE D GA S i ['620 Mcf/D I i.INJECTED GAS ,12600 Mef ID - CRUDE SURGE VESSEL .. :220 MCf~ ,& PRODUCTION' SEPARA TOR Mcf/D 500 Mcf/D .... , f 1~7ÓO MCf(Q 1100 I ...... HIGH PRESSURE FLARE SAFETY PIL0, 600 Mcf/D -.. 14920 Mcf/D ) CRUDE ~URGE TANK PRODUCED GAS 1080 Mct/D INJECTED GAS 3120, Mcf/D þ 't ... A ~ 160 Mcf/O SEPARATOR (A TMOSPHERIC') ~' ). I 4240 Mcf/O ' PRODUCTION , .. lOW PRESSURE FLARE SAFETY PIL~ 400 Mcf/D & À .. . 4400 Mcf/D ',..-., t-) ,.. ~ II ;1fJ ~ :.t'-.. -~ AFFID~VIT STATE OF ALASKA, ) THIRD J,UDICIAL DISTRICT, ) 55. '. ..Mar-y--L.-Shak.e... ..... ... ........... being first duly sworn on, oath she deposes a,nd says thaL....__........ is the....~.~.gª~...LÇ.~~;:~-- of the Anchorage News, a daily news- paper.That said newspaper has been approved as a legal news- paper by. the Third Judicial Court, Anchorage, Alaska, and it is now and has been published in the English language continually as a daily newspaper in Anchorage, Alaska, and it is now and during all of said time was printed in an office maintained at the aforesaid place of publication of said news- paper. Tþatthe annexed is a true copy of a. ____Ã-!e..gªl...Nº:t!.:~&~.)· 924- as it was published in regular issues (a nd not in supplemental form) of said newspaper for. a period of __._~_1?:~_______ insertions, commencing on the -.l-3-....,day April 72 of .___..___.._.._.........__,19 ._.m , and ending on the.....J3.......... day of b~th···~1i:--t-ì~~I·~~i~;~" a~~-··;~~t such newspaper was regularly distributed to its subscribers dur- ing all of sa,id period. That the full amount of the fee charged for the foregoing publication is the sum of $ 9.00 which amount has been paid in full at the rate of 25¢ per line; Mini- mu~rge $705/00,./ j~ / / SUb~?¿~~~ me this __J,t'd:;~----.APriJ.----. 19_72.;¿ /'. ..!:.~~~......... ----¿~~-- the State of Alaska, Third Division, Anchorage, Alaska J1=~:~~~:IR~¿¿:- OF ) PUBLICA TION ['.;! (' J , , " '. . MOll ÇE '~~. .,þU~~~tA~Ê~~¡'~. ' '$~\Þ '~e!¡' :,'$~'" ",,:jot" ÞIiPA~TM,INT' '.',Jt: . ," . R&SõtlK\.~S AllSk~ on: .~d~a~/ c1~~ï,rt~~:ton tomm:ttee , . con..~r.Y~'~10,'~~~~!;\r'~~!i""~:;'¡1.·, rIb: ReI . G.renlte'~blnt¡, JIII':;,L,:'!T~'ðlha"':~:Y :fMa', McArthur ,River,: .jl~I'.I1I ,andM':,¡"",. c;round ShoaIFI,,~~, . ..' I"~ ,I¡~"'>.",,": The'A,llIska '.',' t,n\'.nd~.~,<cons'flit~~'j", Con'II'I'Iltt.. ,. WII1,hO. 1~:\,';,IiÐ,:" t!l>. '~flr,,µ~~~, ;i~~ Titlt 11, Alaska,' Adl11~,ISt,r.ty~!,;:~d~bf,S::. tlon 2009 tel I:OnsJ6~,\t1,:,,~,,~~t,,¡¡, ' " ! nacessary for". deq. ù.~:¡.~'.~t~~J~~tl;&¡:~:; \ductlon platfbrms,. In.t ,W '~~l,ilj", '102 as requIred II\! Conl~'~,~, i~~':j~H~"~~~1: ' 103, 1CM '.nd 1Ø~~,.., ,1,&'11,1...': ': ,i:':t!: i',:, ~,,, 'Th. hearlna w\ll'IfI::".I,d",,'.~~,IOQ, I.m., i Mey 12,)~72, In tþe C¡ty\~~,"-~~t~~~~::~:1 of the Z. J, Loussac Llbr¡fy, ~". , . and F St~.et, 'Anchqr~g.,.A\e,~kar, ,~t whl,ch time operators of I','" l1il, p~~,I!;~,thln thl referenced fi.'ds~.~..af:f,~c't":·,.¥\d Interested partie~, will blh~~d.~"~':'."I" "'1, ' , ' '" ,'. .: ",,'. "\",'~,I"",J"., 'th&m,.'(' ::i~~.hì11,\::Jr. . '.Executlve ~t!~.ry , Alaska ." Ol\.¡'¡""ØI~ C&ns.rvltlon , .! COlt\mltt~e," 300t,:,pQ.rcuplnl .Drive '. :~··M~t«l.r~~'_il'I_. Püb!l~:*~\\\ .·a~' ~1912 .)" ',' ~~~'~'NO~'!t~},~~ ..' In ,--.. -L +.( Lov1 3 '-" NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING "'" / '- STATE OF ALASKA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Committee Conservation File No. 114 Re: Granite Point Field, Trading Bay Field, McArthur River Field and Middle Ground Shoal Field. The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Committee will hold a hearing pursuant to Title 11, Alaska Administrative Code, Section 2009, to consider the amount of gas necessary for adequate safety flares on production platforms in the referenced fields as required in Conservation Order Nos. 102, 103, 104 and 105. The hearing will be held at 9:00 a.m., May 12, 1972, in the City Council Chambers of the Z. J. Loussac Library, 5th Avenue and F Street, Anchorage, Alaska, at which time operators of the oil pools within the referenced fields and affected and interested parties will be heard. t:£,. {( ,/¡¡Jdt¿ Thomas R. Marshall, Jr. Executive Secretary Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Committee 3001 Porcupine Drive Anchorage, Alaska 99504 Publish April 13, 1972 It f wt i