INTEC has been responsible for the design, procurement and construction management of a considerable number of worldwide gas pipelines, including transmission pipelines, deepwater flowline applications and sour service.

1. Oooguruk Offshore Field Development
2. Nikaitchuq Offshore Field Development
3. BP Northstar Pipeline Project
4. BP Liberty Pipeline Project
5. Shtokman Field Constructability Study
6. Alaska Gas Pipeline Development
7. Sakhalin I Development
8. Northern Gas Development
9. Timan Pechora Sea Development Study
10. Barents Sea Field Development Studies
11. Russian Arctic Pipeline Cost Estimation Program

• Oooguruk Offshore Field Development  INTEC Engineering has been contracted to perform Pre-FEED, FEED and Detailed Design for Pioneer Natural Resources Alaska, Inc. for the development of the Oooguruk Field offshore in Alaska’s Beaufort Sea.  This field is located approximately five miles North of Kuparuk Unit coastline on the North Slope near the mouth of the Colville River.  Drilling will commence from the offshore gravel island that is located in approximately 4 to 6 ft of water.  This will potentially be the 2nd offshore arctic oil production pipeline, following the successful start-up of BP’s Northstar pipelines in 2001 (also designed by INTEC Engineering). Produced fluids will be gathered and transported to shore in a buried subsea 3-phase flowline.  Inshore, the flowline will transition to an above-ground insulated line and will run into an existing pipeline at a drilling facility owned by another operator. This field requires water and gas injection and artificial lift provided by ESP’s.  Drilling rig engines will require fuel gas and limited storage of diesel will be provided.  Therefore, a water injection flowline, a gas line and a diesel flowline will run from the shore to the island.  A total of four flowlines are anticipated.  On the island, electrical power will be used for the permanent loads, including electric submersible pumps (ESPs).  A cable from shore will bring power and a communications link to the island. The engineering work will include pipeline concept selection, flow assurance, pipeline mechanical design, method of installation and determining trenching requirements to protect against seabed ice gouging, permafrost thaw settlement, strudel scour, upheaval buckling and channel migration.  Island approach, shore crossing, overland flowline sections and leak detection are included in the work scope.
  
• Nikaitchuq Offshore Field Development INTEC Engineering was contracted to perform Pre-FEED and FEED on subsea flowlines for Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Corporation for the Nikaitchuq Field offshore the coast of the North Slope of Alaska’s Beaufort Sea.  The site is near Spy Island and is approximately four miles offshore Oliktok Point.  This will potentially be the 3rd offshore Arctic oil production flowline.  The flowline and utility bundle will connect to a new onshore facility built at Oliktok Point to process the Nikaitchuq production.
  
  The Nikaitchuq production facilities will include between one and four gravel island drill centers connected by intra-field flowlines for transporting the 3-phase production, gas and injection water.  The water depth at the drill centers ranges from 6 to 10 feet.  Produced oil, gas and water injection lines will run from one of the islands to the onshore process facilities.    The lengths of the intra-field lines are approximately 2.7 miles and the selected option for the export flowline is 3.6 miles to Oliktok Point.  All island drill sites are located in the Eastern Harrison Bay, Simpson Lagoon area East of the mouth of the Colville River.
  
  Initially, only one offshore island will likely be developed and the 3-phase production will be sent via flowline to shore.  Produced gas will be utilized for fuel onshore.  Water will be sent to the offshore islands and re-injected into wells.  One drill site will be located at Oliktok Point and provide early production into the Nikaitchuq process facility.  Later, the production from the other islands will be brought on stream and sent by the flowline to shore.
  
  The engineering work included pipeline concept selection, flow assurance, pipeline mechanical design, method of installation and determining trenching requirements to protect against seabed ice gouging, permafrost thaw settlement, strudel scour, upheaval buckling and channel migration. 
  
• BP Northstar Pipeline Project  INTEC provided a project team to assist BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. with the design, construction and installation of the world’s first offshore arctic oil production pipeline.  The Northstar Field is located six miles offshore in the US Alaskan Beaufort Sea in a water depth of approximately 40 feet.  Several technical issues have been resolved during the preliminary design phase including route selection, landfall site selection, ice gouge protection, permafrost and strudel current loadings and construction methodology.  Innovative construction methods were developed such as on-ice and through-ice excavation and installation.  Ice-based construction has been used successfully in artificial island construction and, coupled with ice thickening, offered an attractive alternative to conventional marine pipeline installation methods in this area. In support of preliminary design, a winter borehole and soils testing program was completed and analyses conducted to determine the characteristics of the soils to be excavated and identify the location and extent of ice-bonded permafrost.  This work was followed by a winter construction test program to demonstrate the feasibility of excavating the required trench depth of 10 feet through a slot in the ice sheet.  This test was conducted on the floating landfast ice sheet in approximately 16 feet of water during the month of March 1997 using the same techniques planned for the actual construction in 2000.  A test trench was also completed in bottom-fast ice with a trench depth of 7 feet.  These two tests demonstrated the feasibility of these methods and provided information concerning ice behavior, excavation rates and the basis for streamlined installation procedures.  INTEC Engineering determined applicable limit state criteria for pipeline design, and because these criteria are dependent on pipe behavior during extreme bending, full-scale bend tests were conducted to validate limit state design methodology. Pipeline construction was completed in 2000.  INTEC also provided permitting assistance for all permits required for pipeline construction onshore and offshore Alaska, and procurement assistance for engineered items with appropriate inspection services.  INTEC provided construction procedures, construction contingency plans and onsite construction engineering support.  INTEC has also been responsible for preparation of start-up, commissioning, operations, maintenance and repair procedures.
  
• BP Liberty Pipeline Project  The Liberty Field Development is also located approximately six miles offshore in the Beaufort Sea, but in 21 feet of water.  This development is presently being reassessed as a potential tie-back to existing onshore production facilities.  To date, INTEC has provided technical and permitting support and has evaluated pipeline system alternatives as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process.
  
• Shtokman Field Constructability Study  A confidential client has contracted INTEC Engineering to perform a construction feasibility study for a large-diameter offshore pipeline for export of gas from the Shtokman Field in the Barents Sea to the Russian mainland.  The objective of this study was to assess the feasibility of installing a range of pipeline diameters and material grades using currently available equipment and technologies.
  
  The scope of the study has comprised:
  • Mechanical design of the pipeline on a conceptual level.
  • Review of available installation contractors and lay vessel capabilities.
  • Evaluation of relevant installation methods including requirements and limitations.
  • Evaluation of environmental requirements and limitations as they will impact lay vessel operations.
  • Estimation of pipeline costs at screening level accuracy.
  
  The Shtokman Field is located on the continental shelf at a water depth of approximately 330 meters.  The shelf in the vicinity of Shtokman shows signs of scarring from past glacial activity (last ice age).  Some of these scars will have to be crossed with the pipeline. Along the route corridor from Shtokman towards the Kola Peninsula, the pipeline route passes through the eastern Barents mega-trough.  The route then passes through the “Mumansk Elevation”. The length of the straight-line route is approximately 550 km, reaching a maximum water depth of 375 meters in the “Kola Depression” before landfall on the Kola Peninsula near Murmansk.  A range of pipeline diameters up to 48-inch and material grades up to x80 were evaluated.  Weight coating thickness and mechanical design aspects were evaluated.  Existing installation vessels were also evaluated and areas of potential vessel upgrade identified.  Construction lay seasons, vessel lay rates, and numbers of lay spreads were reviewed and assessed.  Use of state-of-the-art technology to limit lay tension requirements in the flooded condition were also considered.
  

• Alaska Gas Pipeline Development  The major oil operating companies in the Prudhoe Bay area evaluated the pipeline options for transporting the natural gas reserves from the North Slope of Alaska to the lower 48 states.  One of these options involves the very challenging route across the Beaufort Sea from Pt. Thompson in Alaska to a landfall on the west side of the Mackenzie Delta in Canada.  INTEC Engineering had responsibility for performing offshore pipeline preliminary design, developing a construction plan, and preparing a cost estimate and schedule.  The base case pipeline is a 52-inch diameter line, approximately 220 miles long and operating at 2500 psig.  A few of the unusual factors that must be considered in the design are the presence of permafrost in the seafloor, severe ice keel gouging along the entire route, and the presence of strudel scours which could create long unsupported spans.  The construction plan reflected the knowledge gained by INTEC from many years of arctic experience.  The major obstacles of ice-infested water during the summer construction period and the need for a deep trench, in which to bury the pipeline, are critical issues addressed in the project execution planning.  INTEC performed this work as a subcontractor to Fluor Veco for the Alaska Gas Producers Pipeline team.
  
• Sakhalin I Development  INTEC Engineering conducted preliminary engineering for the Sakhalin I Development (Exxon Neftegas) offshore pipelines.  The Sakhalin I project is located in eastern Russia and is made up of three oil and gas fields in water depths of 15 to 40 meters.  These are the Chayvo, Odoptu, and Arkutin Dagi fields.  Challenges associated with design for these fields include seismicity and the presence of a significant ice regime during winter.  INTEC was responsible for the FEED activities and assistance with the preparation of tender packages.  FEED responsibilities included preparation of a DBM, offshore survey assistance, input to schedule, cost estimates, constructability review, and preliminary design.  First oil from the Sakhalin I Development is scheduled for the year 2006.
  
• Northern Gas Development  The major oil operating companies in the Prudhoe Bay area are evaluating the pipeline options for transporting the natural gas reserves from the North Slope of Alaska to the lower 48 states.  One of these options involves the very challenging route across the Beaufort Sea from the Prudhoe Bay area to a landfall on the west side of the Mackenzie Delta in Canada.  INTEC Engineering was responsible for performing preliminary design, developing a construction plan, and preparing a cost estimate and the documents for filing with the government regulatory agencies in the United States and Canada.  The base case pipeline is a 48-inch diameter line, approximately 300 miles long and operating at 2500 psig.  A few of the unusual factors that must be considered in the design are the presence of permafrost in the seafloor, severe ice keel gouging along the entire route, and the presence of strudel scours which could create excessively long unsupported spans.  The construction plan reflected the knowledge gained by INTEC from many years of arctic experience.  The major obstacles of ice-infested water during the summer construction period and the need for a 20-foot deep trench, in which to bury the pipeline, are critical issues addressed in the project execution planning.
  
• Timan Pechora Sea Development Study  The Northern Gateway Group through the Transportation System Studies Timan Pechora Company commissioned INTEC Engineering to perform a feasibility and cost estimating study for crude oil transportation system bringing oil produced in the Russian Western Siberia and Timan Pechora arctic regions to an export terminal on the coast of the Pechora Sea or southern Barents Sea. Production from western Siberia would flow through a pipeline originating in Krasnoleninskiy, and terminating in Uktha in the Komi Republic.  Additional production from the Timan Pechora region would be commingled with Siberian oil in Uktha and transported to one of the following export options: an onshore storage terminal located near Varandey adjacent to the Pechora Sea; or an onshore storage terminal at Pechenga on the northern coast of the Kola Peninsula.  Objectives of this study included:

• Select preliminary routes for the three pipeline segments (Krasnoleninsk-Uktha; Uktha-Varandey and Uktha-Pechenga).
• Determine pipe diameters, wall thickness, pump/heating station spacing and power requirements for upper and lower limit flow regimes in each route segment.
• Develop preliminary CAPEX and OPEX estimates using the Russian Arctic Pipeline Cost Estimating Program described in Section 3.5 for each case maintaining consistency with earlier estimating efforts for Conoco and Texaco.
• Prepare a schedule indicating project development activities and their sequence.

• Barents Sea Field Development Studies  The Shtockman Gas Field is located in the Russian Barents Sea, approximately 550 km off the coast of the Kola Peninsula in 330 m water depth.  This part of the Barents Sea is normally open water, but icebergs and nearshore first year ice are possible.  These pipeline studies were conducted under contract with a consortium consisting of Conoco, Norsk Hydro and the Finnish Barents Group. A comprehensive technical and economic study of the marine pipelines between the Shtockman Field and possible landfall sites near Murmansk was performed by INTEC.  The high design volumes required pipelines to 48-inch diameter and operating pressures to 200 bar.  A special study was also performed for Conoco to investigate possible options for a large diameter gas riser at a TLP type production platform.  Several design concepts were developed and evaluated to accommodate expected platform excursions in extreme ice conditions, thermal expansion requirements and internal pressure effects.
  
• Russian Arctic Pipeline Cost Estimation Program  During concept design and feasibility studies for Texaco, Conoco, Shell and others involved in Russian Western Siberian arctic field developments, INTEC recognized the difficulty and importance of obtaining realistic data for construction spread composition and costs for labor and equipment in Russia, and from European sources to arrive at the cost of onshore arctic pipeline installations in northern Russia.  To achieve this objective, INTEC initiated a Joint Industry Study.  This study, completed in early 1994, was sponsored by Amoco Production Company, Exxon Exploration Company, Shell International and Saga Petroleum.  INTEC was supported by H. C. Price Construction Company of Anchorage, Alaska.  The result was a cost estimating program in Microsoft Excel spreadsheet format for onshore arctic pipeline diameters from 6 to 48 inches, and includes directionally drilled river and shore crossings.  INTEC updated this program in 1998 to incorporate the latest available installation cost data. As a result of a joint industry study, INTEC developed a detailed onshore arctic pipeline installation cost estimating program specific to northern Russia, but also applicable to other arctic regions.  INTEC updated this program in 1998 to provide the latest available installation cost data.