A LEAST-COST PATH

ANALYSIS OF CRUDE OIL

PIPELINE ROUTING
1002 Area in the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge: Alaskas North Slope
Simon Dowling
Geography 401: Capstone Seminar
Department of Geography & Anthropology, UWEC

Traditions and Concepts In Geography

Concepts
Jacksons concept of
scale and connection as
well as proximity and
distance (2006)
Exploring the best
possible connection
between two places.

Traditions
Pipeline routing using
GIS identifies most with
spatial tradition
Spatial analysis, using
maps to convey
information, analyzing
real world phenomenon
across space.

Project Background & Study Area

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)
19 million acres
Created in 1980 as part of the Alaska National
Interest Lands Conservation
In section 1002 of the act, Congress deferred a
decision regarding future management of a coastal
plain area due to its potential oil and gas resources
The area is 1.5 million acres and is known as the
1002 area

Project Background & Study Area

Total quantity of technically recoverable oil
of ANWR is an average of 10.4 billion
barrels.

The amount of recoverable oil for the 1002

area is estimated to be 7.7 billion barrels,
excluding State and Native areas.
United States Geological Survey. Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 1002 Area, Petroleum Assessment 1998, Including Economic
Analysis.USGS Fact Sheet FS-028-01, Apr. 2001.

Project Background & Study Area

Development of ANWR oil resources could
potentially extend the lifespan of the Trans-Alaska
Pipeline (TAPS).
The pipeline was built for the purposes of
transporting oil from Prudhoe Bay
Believed to be uneconomic to operate once oil
throughput falls below 200,000 barrels per day.
Anticipated that the daily throughput will approach
500,000 barrels a day in 2015 unless additional
sources of oil are developed.
Great TAPS throughput also reduces oil
transportation rates, prolonging the life of existing oil
fields and encouraging the development of new,
small North Slope oil fields.
In the case of oil exploration in the 1002 area, a
pipeline would need to be constructed to connect
drilling rigs in the 1002 area with the Trans-Alaska
Pipeline System.

Trans Alaskan Pipeline System (TAPS)

Objectives
Create a cost raster from multiple variables showing suitable and unsuitable areas
for pipeline construction
Use the cost raster to generate a least cost path connecting a point in the 1002
area to the Trans Alaskan Pipeline System (TAPS)

Methods
LCP analysis covered in GIS 3
Common criteria for pipeline routing include landcover,
slope, soil, geology, landslides, wetlands, residential,
distance from roads, streams.
I chose 6 variables: Slope, geology, landcover, rocky
areas, distance from steams and populated places.
Also exclusion of water bodies.
Reclassified on a scale from 1 5.
1 = Least suitable, 5 = Most suitable
Weighting applied to give certain variables more
influence.

LCPA Methods (Volkan Yildirim 2011)

Data Flow Model: Cost Raster

DEM

Slope

Slope Raster

Reclassify

Streams

Euclidean
Distance

Stream Raster

Reclassify

Populated Places

Euclidean
Distance

Populated Places
Raster

Reclassify

Geology

Feature to
Raster

Geology Raster

Reclassify

Landscape

Feature to
Raster

Rocky Areas
Raster

Reclassify

Water Bodies

Feature to
Raster

Water Bodies
Raster

Reclassify

Landcover

Reclassify

Weighted Overlay

Cost Raster

Criteria and Reclassification: Slope

Toolik Field Station (Toolik.Alaska.edu/gis/data)

Slope Values (Hasan Eroglu 2015)

Criteria and Reclassification: Geology

North Slope Science Catalog: 2014 - Permafrost Database Development,

Characterization and Mapping for Northern Alaska

Geology Values (Hasan Eroglu 2015)

Criteria and Reclassification: Land cover

North Slope Science Catalog:2013 NSSI Landcover for North Slope of Alaska

Landcover values (Hasan Eroglu 2015)

Criteria and Reclassification: Rocky Areas

North Slope Science Catalog: 2014 - Permafrost Database Development,

Characterization and Mapping for Northern Alaska

Hard rocky areas are considered in the study area

Rugged and rocky regions challenges pipeline routing.

Criteria and Reclassification: Streams and Towns

Alaska DNR

Streams encountered by the route will increase the

construction cost, construction time, and operation cost of
the project.

Weighting

Landcover, geology, and slope affect pipeline routing

more than other variables. (Volkan Yildirim 2011)
These variables are given more percent influence in the
final cost raster.
Weighted overlay tool in ArcMap

Weighted Cost Raster

Weighted Cost Raster

Data Flow Model: Least Cost Path

TAPS

1002 Node
Cost Distance
Raster
Cost Raster

Path
Distance

Cost Path
Backlink Raster

Least Cost Path

Results

LCP Route and avoidance places: Rocky areas

LCP Route and avoidance places: Geology, Water Bodies, Slope

Geology

Water Bodies

Slope

Conclusion

GIS can be used effectively for pipeline routing.

Integrates thematic layers to compute the shortest possible route with
associated costs.
Ultimately reduces the cost and time of project execution and operating
expenses.

Acknowledgements

Dr. Garry Running

Dr. Christina Hupy
Fellow Capstoners

Thank you for attending

Questions?

Photo by Simon Dowling

References

United States Geological Survey. Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 1002 Area, Petroleum Assessment 1998, Including
Economic Analysis.USGS Fact Sheet FS-028-01, Apr. 2001.

U.S. Department of Energy Washington, DC Analysis of Crude Oil Production in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Energy
Information Administration Office of Integrated Analysis and Forecasting 20585 May 2008

M. Macharia, P., & N. Mundia, C. (n.d.). GIS Analysis and Spatial Modelling for Optimal Oil Pipeline Route Location. A
Case Study of Proposed Isiolo Nakuru Pipeline Route.

Mohd Zukhari Bin Abd. Lateef, B Kahar (2008) Oil and Gas Exploration in Ethiopia Using GIS. GIS development, Kaula
Lumpur, Malysia

Volkan Yildirim, Tahsin Yomralioglu. 2011. "NABUCCO Pipeline Route Selection through Turkey Comparison of a GISbased Approach to a Traditional Route Selection Approach." Oil Gas European Magazine 1-5.

Stefano Bagli, Davide Geneletti, Francesco Orsi. April 2011. "Routing of power lines through least-cost path analysis and
multicriteria evaluation to minimise environmental impacts." Environmental Impact Assessment Review 234-239.

Abdul-Lateef Balogun, Abdul-Nasir Matori, Dano, Umar Lawal, Imtiaz Chandio. 2012. "Optimal Oil Pipeline Route
Selection using GIS: Community Participation in Weight derivation and Disaster Mitigation." 2012 International Conference
on Future Environment and Energy. Singapoore: IACSIT Press. 100-104.

Hasan Eroglu, Musa Aydin. 2015. "Optimization of electrical power transmision lines' routing using AHP, fizzy AHP, and
GIS." Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences 1418-1430.