C Pad to CFP Production Pipeline Upgrade Project
AES's C Pad to CFP Production Pipeline Upgrade project, in the Milne Point operating unit of Alaska's North Slope, is a successful demonstration of our Engineering - Procurement - Construction (EPC) capabilities. This fast-track project began with an infrastructure study in July 2005, and involved new on-pad facilities and a 24-inch production pipeline to de-bottleneck C, F, and L pads. This project met its goals, including its financial target and its completion date of July 2006.

Client management high graded this project in January 2006 as a high priority for their capital expenditures. We signed the contracts in February, and construction began in March 2006. Detailed engineering and project management totaled more than 10,000 manhours.

The AES Anchorage Fabrication Facility prefabricated the on-pad pigging facilities, consisting of 24-inch line size receiver and launcher modules. These were smart-pig-ready "plug and play" modules, with piping and electrical work completed at the fabrication facility.

Our North Slope construction crew installed the modules and tied the piping into the operating production infrastructure, which required six hot taps that varied in size from 2 to 24 inches. The work involved setting VSMs and modules; completing electrical work; installing the HSMs; installing fire and gas detection systems; installing, hydrotesting, and insulating the pipes; completing the utiliway; and completing the functional check-out.

AES was also responsible for the following:

  • Valving and pipe routing from module 26 to the open-air launcher skid at C Pad
  • Below-grade utilidor installation to allow drill rig access to the drillsite
  • Valving and pipe routing from the receiver module to module 58 at CFP
  • Associated controls, monitoring, and shut-down devices
  • Fire and gas detection/shutdown hardware and software logic/control
  • New piling to support structures and piping planned at the on-pad facilities
  • Decommissioning the existing 14-inch C/F/L common line
  • Creating training and operating manuals for BP operations personnel
  • Electrical heat trace design and installation
  • HVAC design and control philosophy
  • Fire marshal package preparation and coordination with the State of Alaska fire marshal

AES Power, Pipeline, and Communications completed the cross-country pipeline work during the 2006 winter construction season.

AES is proud of our safety record which the client nominated as best-in-class performance. We recorded zero lost time and restricted activity cases, zero incidents, zero accidents, and only three medical treatment cases.