BP says 95,000 b/d of Prudhoe Bay still shut in as leak probed

Anchorage (Platts)--5Mar2006

BP Exploration Alaska said Saturday all but 5,000 b/d of production from
the 100,000 b/d Gathering Center 2 in Prudhoe Bay remained shut in after an
oil spill from one of its pipelines March 2.
     The company has still not found the location of a leak from a 34-inch
crude oil pipeline that caused a spill in the Prudhoe Bay oil field, nor the
volume of oil that has been spilled. It has determined that 1.93 acres
adjacent to the pipeline has been impacted, said Maureen Johnson, BP senior
vice president and Prudhoe Bay manager.
     Previous estimates were that three to five acres might have been affected
by spilled oil, she said at a press conference with federal and local
government officials. 
     Some 4, 570 barrels of fluids, crude oil mixed with water, were 
recovered by mid-day Mar 4, BP spokesman Daren Beaudo said.
     BP has been able to restart 5,000 barrels per day of production from
Gathering Center 2, which was shut down when the leak was discovered March 2.
In normal operation GC-2 processed and shipped 100,000 barrels per day of
crude oil to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. The 5,000 b/d is being shipped to TAPS
through an alternate 6-inch pipeline. 
     Johnson said GC-2 production might be able to be increased to 10,000 b/d
through alternate pipelines, but that BP was still working on how to do it. A
leak occurred on the pipeline about one mile east of GC-2. Searching for the
source involves removal of insulation that has been installed around the pipe.
     Freeze-protection is 95 percent complete on 12 production pads and 230
wells that serve GC-2 and the gathering center itself is warm and in no danger
of freezing, Johnson said. Daytime temperatures at Prudhoe were 6 degrees
below zero Fahrenheit with light winds. 
     BP has mobilized about 80 company workers and contractors and has brought
in trained spill response crews from Inupiat Eskimo villages on the North
Slope. Oil is being recovered by vaccum truck with the assistance of light
Bob-Cat wheeled loaders but much of the work involves people removing
oil-soaked snow with shovels, state Department of Environmental Conservation
on-scene coordinator Leslie Pearson said at the press conference.

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