A gas production platform in Alaska's Cook Inlet caught fire this morning, with a smoke plume visible for several miles, but the fire is now reported to be under control.
The Baker platform near Nikiski is operated by privately held Hilcorp Energy Co. through Anchorage-based subsidiary Hilcorp Alaska LLC.
Lori Nelson, spokeswoman for Hilcorp, said the fire broke out in crew quarters around 7:30am, and four crew members were evacuated by 8:00am.
The Nikiski Fire Department and Cook Inlet Spill Prevention & Response Inc. (CISPRI) responded to the fire, and the Ocean Marine Services Inc. (OMSI) vessel Discovery and the CISPRI vessel Endeavor were being used, Nelson said.
[Photo at right courtesy Nikiski Fire Department via Alaska DEC.]
The US Coast Guard was alerted by 8:30, and sent a Hercules HC-130 crew and a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew to fly over the platform, and dispatched the Coast Guard Cutter Mustang and the Coast Guard Cutter SPAR to the scene. The Coast Guard also established a five-mile, no-fly safety zone to 5000ft, and a two-mile safety zone around the platform, according to Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Shawn Eggert, public affairs officer.
Hilcorp in Alaska
Independents have been replacing larger companies as owners and operators in Cook Inlet.
Hilcorp acquired Cook Inlet fields and 10 platforms from Chevron Corp. in January 2012. The Baker platform is one of these 10, located in the Middle Ground Shoal area.
In June 2012, Hilcorp president Greg Lalicker told the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce that his goal was to increase production from the Inlet to 25,000 b/d by 2014, up from 14,000 b/d in 2011. Hilcorp planned to invest US$206 million in the project in 2012, and $155 million in both 2013 and 2014, Lalicker said, whereas Chevron had been spending only about $40 million/yr on capital investments in the fields.
This year, BP Alaska is selling four North Slope fields to Hilcorp, leading to BP's announcement on 15 September that it would lay off 275 predominantly Anchorage-based employees and contractors early in 2015. The sale will close later this year, BP spokesperson Dawn Patience said, and it includes the Endicott and Northstar oil fields, BP's 50% interest in the Liberty and Milne Point fields, and associated pipelines.
Yesterday, 1 Oct, Radio Kenai's Ashley Smith, of the KSRM Radio Group, reported that Hilcorp Alaska had filed to consolidate fields on the west side of Cook Inlet, seeking to combine the Granite Point field and the South Granite Point field "to reduce redundancies." Hilcorp was also interested in consolidating the Kasilof unit and Ninilchik unit, KSRM reported.
This follows Hilcorp's recent consolidation of four pipelines, approved on 29 August, into the Kenai Beluga Pipeline, now owned and operated by the newly created Kenai Beluga Pipeline LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hilcorp Alaska.
Subscribe
