Oil spill shuts in 100,000 b/d output from Alaska's Prudhoe Bay

Anchorage (Platts)--2Mar2006

A crude pipeline in the Prudhoe Bay field on Alaska's North Slope that
ruptured and spilled oil in the early hours of Thursday has been shut and
sealed at both ends to isolate the leak, Daren Beaudo, spokesman at field
operator BP, said late Thursday. 
     The pipeline connects Gathering Center 2 with Gathering Center 1 in the
western part of the Prudhoe field. GC-2 and 13 production well pads had also
been shut, Beaudo said. GC-2 normally processes about 100,000 b/d of oil, he
said. From GC-1 the oil is shipped on to Pump Station One of the Trans-Alaska
Pipeline System, which is in the middle of the field.
     Meanwhile, spill clean-up crews have recovered 62 barrels of oil from an
undetermined amount that leaked. 
     The spill was detected by BP crews around 5:45 a.m. (1445 GMT) on March 2
and was reported to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation at
6:15 a.m. Beaudo said the cause of the pipeline leak was still under
investigation.
     The company has mobilized spill clean-up crews under a plan approved by
the state DEC, the spokesman said.  
      Temperatures at Prudhoe Bay were about minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit
during the day with light winds. There is about 12 hours of daylight on the
North Slope at this time of the year. BP is using infrared technology to
locate spilled oil that has been covered by snow, Beaudo said.

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