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In the nearshore zone of the Alaskan Beaufort Sea, three subsea pipeline bundles have been successfully installed by using conventional onshore construction equipment in the winter season operating from a thickened sea ice platform. Differences in water depth, route length and corresponding pipeline design for BP Northstar, Pioneer Oooguruk and Eni Nikaitchuq impacted the winter construction procedures used for each project. Each of these projects used the winter construction season to its maximum advantage, allowing the use of conventional and adapted onshore construction equipment and techniques. Comparatively, ice based winter pipeline construction in subarctic conditions has been generally less successful. On-ice pipeline fabrication and installation into a subsea trench has a track record for shallow water pipeline installation with reduced permitting issues compared to summer installation. Based on the experiences of these projects, this paper reviews the limitations of on-ice construction, the typical construction activities; the main equipment used and will highlight the main lessons learned.

Abstract Marine Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) is a technology that has evolved to a point where technical challenges no longer pose a hurdle to project development. The Class Societies have provided guidance and rules that allow for ship construction, and the proponents have completed the testing and certification required in advance of final project definition. In the recent past at a time of high energy prices, the question on the lips of many interested industry observers is " Why have we not yet seen a Marine CNG project??? This paper will examine the state of the industry and outline the reasons that this technology has not yet seen a final project approval. We will provide a brief description of the proponents' current readiness, describing any additional technical hurdles that apply to particular technologies as well as industry wide barriers. In addition, we will focus on many of the projects that have examined marine CNG and the reasons why these projects have not yet proceeded. The Centre has found that the following key issues have hampered Marine CNG development:Target Market - Marine CNG has never been a solution for large scale export for natural gas, yet many gas owners have contrasted this technology against its gas transport cousin, LNG. Many initial projects examined marine CNG as a solution to transport large volumes of gas over medium to long distances. Marine CNG's niche remains in regional transport, where gas market dynamics are far removed from LNG solutions.Human Resource Availability - The boom of natural gas development has seen many new (and proposed) gas delivery solutions. With so many projects on the drawing board, human resource availability is at a premium. It was inevitable that the international oil companies were going to deploy their human resources where the project scale was at its maximum. Smaller developments like marine CNG have suffered accordingly.Unclear Economics - Marine CNG has suffered from a lack of transparency on project cost. Other gas delivery solutions have accepted economic ranges that can quickly be applied to different project scenarios. Questions surrounding capital and operational costs and the resulting tariff structure are not readily available to the industry. In a time where gas supply agreements are becoming more and more challenging, the economics of Marine CNG must be clear.Fragmented Industry - When any of the technology proponents gets a contract, the industry wins. While there are advantages to being the first or early entrant, this does not preclude competition from achieving similar success. Any contract would be an endorsement of the industry as a whole and increases the probability of others succeeding. As Charles Darwin stated, it is not the strongest or quickest that survive. It is the ones most adaptive to change. The marine CNG industry needs to concentrate on making a project happen based on the merits of their own technology. The Centre for Marine CNG has spent considerable effort examining the challenges for this unique technology. There continue to be niche applications where Marine CNG is the optimal economic and technical solution for gas development, which we will provide. Introduction Marine CNG has been identified as a niche technology that will complement both LNG and pipeline technologies for stranded gas monetization. One of the major benefits for CNG is the minimal fixed capital assets for resource exploitation. In comparison to LNG, there is no requirement for liquefaction and regassification terminals, with the added benefit of a mobile asset (the CNG vessel) that can be redeployed, depending on gas supply agreements, seasonality and/or life of field.

Abstract One of the newest frontiers in the upstream energy sector is marine compressed natural gas (CNG), and the economic challenge of how to safely transport and market marine CNG on a regional or international basis. Stakeholders are working to meet these challenges head-on and are creating solutions for all aspects of development, transportation and delivery of a reliable CNG product to varied customers. Traditional concerns surrounding technical feasibility have given way to economic considerations on a project by project basis, with increased focus on the niche capabilities that marine CNG fulfills. Proponents have succeeded in overcoming the technical challenges and have attained regulatory approvals for their designs and are in a race to be the first successful application of this technology. The Centre For Marine CNG Inc. has been tracking the progress of all the proponents, while advocating for the technology as a whole. While research continues on the technical aspects of CNG, the gas owner/operators have recognized that the first project is imminent and are following the technology appropriately. This paper serves to provide an industry update, describing the niche that CNG fills in comparison to LNG or other natural gas monetization strategies, identification of thetechnology proponents and the relevant regulatory approvals, as well as some basic economic models to help validate the viability of marine CNG. Introduction From the Oil & Gas industry perspective, one of the obstacles to a stranded gas development is that marine CNG, as a monetization strategy, is not yet in commercial operation anywhere in the world. Many owners worldwide have struggled with how to monetize their gas reserves when the conventional options of a pipeline or LNG development do not fit the characteristics of their reseroirs. In general terms, marine CNG differs from LNG in that the natural gas is compressed, rather than liquefied for transport. Depending on the proponent, the gas is transported in a range of 1500 to 4000 psi to achieve energy densities of approximately 1/3 of their liquefied counterpart of LNG. The gas is stored in pressure vessels aboard a CNG ship that will then transport the gas to market. Depending on distance to market and the demands for non-interruptiple supply, multiple ships would be required to maintain "flow". One could consider the CNG solution comparable to a floating pipeline, with much less infrastructure required for exploitation of the natural gas reserve. Loading and unloading requirements are comparable to and adaptable from both LNG and oil transfer systems, while the transport vessel can range from a small volume barge to a large capacity LNG-sized vessel. Given the capability of marine CNG transport as amonetization strategy, one must ask why this method has not yet been implemented. The first and most obvious answer is the hesitation of any owner to be the first to employ a new and unproven technology on a large scale development project.