Exxon, Conoco to resume Prudhoe sales

Exxon Mobil Corp. will resume full delivery of Alaska North Slope crude oil from the Prudhoe Bay field by mid-October, and ConocoPhillips will follow suit about two weeks later, the oil companies said in late September.

Exxon said it will lift on Oct. 15 the “force majeure” clause it invoked nearly two months ago after operator BP discovered a leak and corrosion in a Prudhoe transit line. ConocoPhillips said it will do the same by Oct. 31.

Exxon, of Irving, Texas, and Houston-based ConocoPhillips each own about 36 percent of the oil field on Alaska’s North Slope.

“We are in the process of notifying our Prudhoe Bay crude oil customers,” of the lifting of the force majeure clause, which essentially cancels contracts because of uncontrollable events, Exxon spokeswoman Prem Nair said in an e-mail.

ConocoPhillips notified its crude oil customers on Sept. 15, company spokesman Charlie Rowton said. The lifting of the force majeure is based on information from BP that “production rates are expected to begin to ramp up toward normal levels over the coming days,” Nair said.

Last week, BP obtained authorization to restart the eastern part of the Prudhoe Bay field, shut down since early August. BP said Sept. 25 it was producing 100,000 barrels a day from east Prudhoe Bay, and expects to add another 50,000 barrels per day by Sept. 30. Western Prudhoe Bay currently produces 250,000 barrels a day.

(Petroleum News contributed to this report)

—The Associated Press