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BP increases production at Prudhoe DOT allows re-start on eastern side of field so maintenance, smart pigs can be run; one east side line, 50,000 bpd, still down Mary Pemberton Associated Press Writer
BP restarted the eastern side of the Prudhoe Bay oil field and expects production to reach 150,000 barrels a day by the weekend, a BP spokesman said Sept. 26. The eastern side of the North Slope field has been shut down since August when a pipeline leak was discovered.
The eastern side of the country’s largest oil field ceased production Aug. 10, a few days after a leak was detected in what proved to be a corroded transit line. Initially, the company expected to shut down the west side of the field as well, but kept that side in operation after determining it could be operated safely. The west side is producing about 200,000 barrels a day.
Production in the northern part of the field adds about 50,000 barrels a day. The oil field normally produces about 450,000 barrels.
A test in July on the northern field transit line that services that part of the field showed it was in good shape, said BP Alaska spokesman Daren Beaudo.
“It came out with flying colors,” he said.
But BP plans to replace two of three Prudhoe Bay transit lines because of corrosion, or about 16 of 22 miles of pipelines.
DOT permission for production The U.S. Department of Transportation on Sept. 22 gave BP approval to resume production at three facilities on the east side of the field. Beaudo said restoring east side production will allow BP to run a device called a “smart pig” through the line to check its condition. That is the same test used on the northern transit line.
Beaudo said the east side transit line will first be scraped and cleaned with maintenance pigs. Within a few days, a smart pig that uses ultrasound will be put through the line to check for thin spots. Cleaning of the line could begin was early as the weekend, he said.
“We are resuming production in the east in a safe, orderly and structured manner,” he said Sept. 26.
It is expected to take about a week before the east side of the field reaches a steady state of operation with production at about 150,000 barrels a day. That is still 50,000 barrels a day below pre-leak production because the line on the east side where the August leak occurred remains shut down. BP is constructing a bypass on that line.
Corrosion in the west side transit line in March resulted in a spill of up to 267,000 gallons, the largest spill in the history of Prudhoe Bay. BP ended up putting a bypass on that line. The August leak on the east side was much smaller at about 200 gallons.
Steve Marshall, the president of BP Exploration Alaska Inc., told a congressional hearing earlier in September that full Prudhoe Bay production could be restored by late October.
BP expects to get replacement pipe by the end of the year with construction beginning early next year.
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