PRUDHOE BAY – “Improving ice conditions off the coast of Alaska” have made it possible for 3.5 million gallons of diesel fuel to be delivered to the North Slope oil fields by barge, Colville, Inc., the Alaska-based company providing logistics and fuel transport services for the North Slope, has announced.
The barge arrived at Deadhorse last Friday, and the offloading operation will continue through this week. Last year the company delivered 2 million gallons of diesel to Deadhorse by barge, Colville said.
“Fuel for North Slope oil field operations is typically delivered overland by trucks pulling 59-foot tankers for than 850 miles from a refinery in Valdez and up the Dalton Highway to the North Slope,” the company said in the news release.
“Colville makes 2,000 such trips each year, each hauling nearly 10,000 gallons of diesel. This year’s barge delivery is equivalent to 350 deliveries by truck,” the company said.
The company said it will continue to consider additional barge deliveries of fuel in the future, but they will not replace the trucking operation.
Two tanker trucks discharge their 10,000-gallon loads of diesel fuel at the Colville tank farm at Prudhoe Bay. The trucks were loaded at the nearby Deadhorse dock from a barge bringing 3.5 million gallons of diesel for North Slope oil field operations. (Photo provided)
