Exxon plans to buy two older BP tankers

Exxon Mobil Corp. says it will replace its Alaska fleet of single-hulled oil tankers with double-hulled vessels. The company will first take over and refurbish two aging double-hulled tankers now hauling North Slope crude oil for BP PLC. The tankers, the Kenai and the Tonsina, will be overhauled in a Singapore shipyard, Exxon said.

The company’s shipping subsidiary, Houston-based SeaRiver Maritime Inc., currently runs four single-hulled tankers between Valdez and West Coast refineries.

Exxon and the other major oil companies in Alaska, ConocoPhillips and BP, must comply with a federal law requiring oil tankers be double-hulled by 2015 to reduce the size of potential spills. Many ships now in service have earlier expiration dates.

SeaRiver spokesman Ray Botto said the purchase of the BP ships is an interim step in a broader plan that may include building new, double-hulled tankers.

ConocoPhillips and BP together are spending about $2 billion to build double-hulled tankers. Since 2001, ConocoPhillips has put four such ships into service and BP two, with both companies expecting more new tankers in coming months.

—The Associated Press