Kuparuk Pipeline seeks 76% capacity expansion for North Slope crude

Kuparuk Transportation Company filed an application Monday to increase the metering capacity of the Kuparuk Pipeline from 360,000 barrels per day to 634,000 barrels per day, a 76 percent expansion that would accommodate growing North Slope crude volumes flowing into the Trans Alaska Pipeline System.

The project involves construction of a new meter module at Pump Station 1, where the Kuparuk Pipeline connects to TAPS. The expansion would allow the pipeline to handle additional crude from new North Slope production, including oil from the Pikka field, which is scheduled to begin flowing through a 22-mile connector pipeline into the Kuparuk system.

TAPS has been operating at roughly one-quarter of its design capacity in recent years, with average throughput around 470,000 barrels per day. The Kuparuk expansion would position the pipeline to handle a significant share of any North Slope production increase without requiring new trunk-line construction.

The Kuparuk Pipeline transports crude from the Kuparuk River Unit area to Pump Station 1, where it enters TAPS for the 800-mile journey to Valdez. The pipeline has operated under the same metering capacity since its original construction, even as North Slope production patterns shifted.

The Regulatory Commission of Alaska opened Docket P-26-009 to review the application. Public comments are due by 5 p.m. on June 26. The Commission will determine whether the filing is complete by June 23.

The project sits on existing right-of-way. No new land disturbance is proposed beyond the meter station footprint at Pump Station 1.