By Tim Bradner
Alaska Journal of Commerce

Chevron Corp. is restarting production operations on Cook Inlet platforms that have been shut-in since April.

The Anna and Bruce platforms were restarted Aug. 8 and 9, and the Granite Point platform was operating Aug. 10, according to Chevron spokeswoman Roxanne Sinz.

Restart efforts were also underway on nearby platforms Grayling and Steelhead.

Three Chevron-operated platforms to the south are also on the restart schedule, inlcuding the King Salmon, Dolly Varden and Monopod.

All eight facilities were shut down in April, after the Drift River oil loading terminal on Cook Inlet's west side was closed due to the eruptions of nearby Mount Redoubt. The volcano has quieted in recent weeks.

Two gas-producing platforms, one operated by Chevron and the other by ConocoPhillips, were not affected.

The eight platforms produced about 7,500 barrels per day before they were shut in, but Sinz said it is uncertain whether that rate can be reached again due to changes in reservoir conditions.

Dan Seamount, a commissioner with the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, said clays might have damaged some of Cook Inlet's producing formations during the extended shutdowns. Clays tend to block pore spaces in the reservoir rock, Seamount said.

Crude oil loading at the Drift River terminal has also restarted. A tanker chartered by Tesoro Alaska Petroleum Co. arrived at the Drift River Terminal Aug. 4 to begin loading water and oil stored in tanks at the terminal.

Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation officials said the tanker Overseas Boston, under charter with Tesoro, loaded 20,040 barrels of crude oil, diesel and lubricating oil, plus water, that was stored in Drift River, and then loaded the oil stored at the Chevron-operated Granite Point and Trading Bay production facilities.

That oil was moved through a 42-mile pipeline to the terminal. The pipeline and terminal are operated by Cook Inlet Pipe Line Co.

Oil drawn down from storage will be replaced by crude oil produced as production ramps up on the platforms.

Under a new operating plan for the Drift River Terminal, approved by state and federal agencies, oil will not be stored at the terminal, but will be loaded on tankers on the Christy Lee loading platform in Drift River after being transported by pipeline from storage in Granite Point and Trading Bay, the state DEC and U.S. Coast Guard said in a joint statement issued Aug. 3.

The current plan calls for no additional oil to be stored at the Drift River terminal, the agencies said.

The Overseas Boston delivered the oil loaded from Drift River to the Tesoro refinery near Kenai, on Cook Inlet's east side, and then delivered the oil and water mixture from the Drift River storage tanks to Washington state for processing at facilities operated by Emerald Services.

The Drift River Terminal was built in the late 1960s, along with oil and gas production platforms in Cook Inlet. Platforms on the west side of the inlet previously shipped oil through Drift River, while two platforms in the Middle Ground Shoal operated by XTO Corp. ship oil by pipeline directly to the Tesoro refinery, on Cook Inlet's east side.

Chevron's Cook Inlet operations employ about 250 people, including company and contractor employees. The company did not lay off any Chevron employees during the shutdown, but work was curtailed for contractors who work on specific projects.

"We are project oriented and contract count changes with the number of projects underway," Sinz said.

Tim Bradner can be reached at

tim.bradner@alaskajournal.com.