Construction of the Alberta Clipper crude oil pipeline is underway in northern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota, according to a report in the Grand Forks Herald (North Dakota). Crews are beginning to clear land along the right-of-way, and stringing pipe in preparation for welding, fabrication and lowering-in activities.

The project, which is being developed by Enbridge Energy, LP, calls for the installation of 1,000 miles of 36-in. pipe from northern Canada to Superior, Wisconsin. Some 326 miles will be installed in the United States. In late August, the U.S. State Department issued the final permit needed for the company to begin construction. The pipeline is being built along an existing Enbridge pipeline right-of-way that enters the United States near Neche, North Dakota, running through northwestern Minnesota, past Thief River Falls and Clearbrook, Minnesota. Construction work is being performed by Global Pipeline Partners, a partnership of Michels Corp. of Brownsville, Wisconsin; Precision Pipeline of Eau Claire, Wisconsin; and U.S. Pipeline of Houston.

The Alberta Clipper and Southern Lights pipelines will be built simultaneously, with a projected completion of early 2010. In the U.S., Alberta Clipper is a 326-mi, 36-in. pipeline; Southern Lights will be a separate 188-mi, 20-in. pipeline running between Clearbrook, Minnesota, and Superior, Wisconsin. The Alberta Clipper project will be built in four sections, or spreads; while the Southern Lights will be built in two spreads. Each spread will have 350 to 500 workers.

Nord Stream project advances

The Nord Stream joint venture reports that preparatory work is advancing on the offshore pipeline project, with materials acquisition and logistics well underway. The project calls for the construction of a dual 745-mi, 48-in. system that will move natural gas from Vyborg, Russia, to Greifswald, Germany, running through the Baltic Sea.

The first 168 steel pipe joints for the project have been shipped; and by the end of 2009, a total of 13,000 pipe joints, each twelve meters in length, will be transported from the port in Mukran on the island of Rügen, Germany, to the Swedish port of Karlskrona. The Karlskrona stock yard is one of five to be used for the pipeline project.

The French company EUPEC PipeCoatings France S.A, which is contracted to run the concrete weight-coating yard in Mukran, is also overseeing the handling, transport and the interim storage of the pipes. Manufacturing of the pipes for the first leg of the pipeline by the German company EUROPIPE GmbH began last year, and the first steel pipes have been transported from the EUROPIPE plant at Mülheim an der Ruhr to the EUPEC weight-coating facility in Mukran.

Nord Stream says that this early start of pipe delivery represents a necessary step in the logistical planning of the project, since one third of the pipes to be laid, or about 400 kilometers of the pipeline length, must be coated and available at various logistics sites around the Baltic Sea at the beginning of 2010, when construction of the first line is planned to start.

Alaska projects to seek permits in 2012

Both the TransCanada and Denali natural gas pipeline projects expect to file for a federal permit in 2012. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports that both companies are moving ahead with plans to conduct an open season next year that will influence the pace of the project, which is estimated to cost $40 billion. Denali is the joint venture of BP and ConocoPhillips. TransCanada earlier this year took on Exxon Mobil as a partner in its project, which is the one approved by the Legislature and then-Governor Sarah Palin with $500 million in state financing. The state approval does not prevent Denali from seeking authorization from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Trans-Saharan FEED expected soon

The joint venture partners behind the (U.S.) $10-billion Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline project could award the front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract by the end of 2009. Reports from local news outlets in Algeria reported that sources close to the project said that the 2,500-mile-plus pipeline could award the FEED contract this year, with engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts for the construction work to follow soon after. The completion date for the project is expected to be 2015. When complete, the Trans-Saharan Pipeline will transfer around 30 billion cubic meters of gas per annum from Nigeria and Niger to Algeria where it will then be processed and transported to mainland Europe. The state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and Sonatrach from Algeria each own a 45% stake in the project with Niger holding a 10% stake.