BP plugs leak at oil well in Alaska

A well operated by BP Exploration Alaska on Alaska’s frigid North Slope is no longer spraying crude oil after leaks were discovered on Friday morning.

The crude spray onto the well pad, which occurred while the well in the Greater Prudhoe Bay area was venting gas, had stopped by Sunday afternoon.

A second leak at the well was emitting gas at a reduced rate, the state’s environmental conservation department said. Well pressure was monitored through the night and excess pressure was bled off to keep it within a safe range.

The volume of the leak had not been determined and the cause of the release was unknown, the department said. There had been no injuries and no reports of harm to wildlife.

THE TRANS-ALASKA PIPELINE SYSTEM IS NOT AFFECTED BY THIS INCIDENT AND IS OPERATING NORMALLY

Based on aerial pictures, the release appeared to be confined to the gravel pad surrounding the well head and had not reached the surrounding tundra, BP said. The well had been shut since Friday and the response is continuing, BP spokeswoman Dawn Patience said.

The leak comes as the remote North Slope, once home to the US’s biggest oilfields, enjoys a resurgence as producers work to boost output from ageing wells and extend their reach to new supplies. North Slope production rose to 565,000 barrels a day in March, its highest level since December 2013. It is another sign, along with multibillion-barrel discoveries in recent months, that the area may be reversing decades of declining volumes.

Alyeska Pipeline Service’s Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, which runs from Prudhoe Bay south to Valdez, is not affected by this incident and is operating normally, Michelle Egan, a company spokeswoman, said. Alyeska was a joint partnership led by the North Slope’s top producers, BP, Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips.

Alaskan North Slope crude was valued at $1.90 a barrel over US benchmark West Texas Intermediate last Thursday.