The North Slope
When one mentions oil and gas exploration in North America, the conversation almost always includes Texas and Alaska, the nation’s two largest states, which are also rich in oil reserves.
In Alaska, production and exploration on the North Slope, or Prudhoe Bay, takes longer to realize because of access to the oilfields. Prudhoe Bay winter weather frequently dips below -50°F with a strong wind-chill factor so it’s frozen most of the time. Preparation for any project must be made far in advance and as weather permits.
Lynden Oilfield services, a newly created company this year, carved from the Lynden Freight Shipping and Logistics Companies, was created specifically to service the oil and gas industry in Prudhoe Bay. Heavy lift, heavy haul and getting freight to the various fields are its expertise. Jeanine St. John, vice president of Lynden Logistics, said it is most likely the only integrated logistics company serving the North Slope.
The largest cargo Lynden has taken up to Prudhoe weighed 110 tonnes. “It was the largest single unit hauled over a public highway – the heaviest weight ever shipped out of Anchorage,” St. John said. At 75 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 14 feet, 4 inches high, it was a module for BP, with corrosion detection equipment. To move it, they used one pull truck, four push trucks, three mechanic’s trucks, five pilot cars, three managers and a motor home with a driver and a cook.
St. John said everything comes into Deadhorse, the “city” on the slope. From there, Lynden transports equipment and freight to the various fields using several different modalities. The Alpine field, which is near the National Petroleum Reserve, is only accessible by ice road in the winter, or air. The Oooguruk field, which is run by Caelus Energy Alaska, is on an island six miles offshore, so Lynden supplies it by truck in the winter and boat in the summer. The company uses a hovercraft to access some fields, helicopters, a “rollagon” – which operates nicely on tundra without tearing it up because of its large, rounded tires – and a fleet of L-382 Hercules to move equipment and freight. There is a large airstrip in Deadhorse that can handle jets and the Hercs, St. John said. The company’s Hercules flights are scheduled or chartered and are exclusively for cargo – what she called a flying truckload.
Alaska-based airline Northern Air Cargo supports the North Slope oil business by flying food, fuel and other necessities into Deadhorse. The carrier’s business boomed this spring when the 414-mile highway from Fairbanks to Deadhorse suffered unprecedented flooding and was closed on and off for two months. Dave Squier, chief operating officer for parent company Northern Aviation Services, said they were sending four to five extra aircraft each week with supplies for the oilfield workers.
Summing up, Lynden’s St. John echoed the sentiment expressed by many others. Oil prices may be depressed at the moment, but “the investments for the North Slope are long-term. The outlook is for oil prices to return.”