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Oil will be removed from BP transit line
The Associated Press
Oil trapped inside a transit line where leaks led to the partial shutdown of the nation’s largest oil field will be removed starting Aug. 17.
It’s not known how much oil is trapped inside the Prudhoe Bay transit line, officials with both BP and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation said Aug. 14.
The state said a complete line survey would be conducted after the pipe is emptied, a process expected to take several days.
An inspection of the line Aug. 6 found leaks and corrosion in 16 parts of the line. That prompted BP to begin shutting down the oil field over fears of severe pipeline corrosion.
BP decided Aug. 11 to continue supplying oil out of one side of the field after reviewing hundreds of ultrasound inspections on five miles of the pipeline, and discussing the matter with federal and state regulators. The company also will replace 16 miles of pipeline. No timetable for ramp up As of Aug. 14, 150,000 barrels of crude and natural gas were flowing from the western side of the field. BP spokesman Daren Beaudo said there is no timetable in place, but the company intends to ramp production up to about 200,000 barrels or half of normal production.
The state said 23 barrels of oil spilled on the tundra, and 176 barrels of oil were captured by tanks placed under the leaks. Ed Meggert, the state’s on-scene coordinator, said most of the spilled oil has been collected, and the state will burn off what oil has collected on tundra grasses.
Fifteen sleeves have been placed over the pipe to cover the leaks, and the remaining sleeve must be fabricated for a leak near a junction. That must be completed before oil is taken out of the pipe.
BP is considering a number of options, including routing oil through bypass lines, for the eastern field, but no timetable has been set, Beaudo said. Any decision will be made with the approval of state and federal regulators.
“We’re proceeding as expeditiously as we can,” he said. “We’ll put options into place as soon as we can safely do so.”
Beaudo would not address published reports of alternative pipeline routes that might allow production on the eastern side of the field to resume as early as October.
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