BP’s Alaska pipeline affected by leakage

BP has recently discovered a leak in the oil pipeline from a well at the Prudhoe Bay field. This is now the third leak that has been discovered by the oil giant in the past month in Alaska’s North Slope region.

According to BP, the oil leak did not cause any severe impact to the production unit. A mixture of oil, produced water and natural gas was found at Prudhoe Bay. BP Exploration spokesman, Steve Rinehart said that this leakage was an extremely short-term event. The problem was triggered when a safety valve shut the well off. However, the amount of liquid spilled during the leakage is still unknown.

BP officials said that the leakage was caused in a 6-inch diameter pipeline, which transmits the product from a single well source. The leakage in the pipeline was found on Monday. Steve Rinehart said that the spilled material was found in the region near the well on top of a layer of snow on a gravel pad.

According to state officials, a ruptured line at the Lisburne field spilled around 46,000 gallons of liquid, consisting of a mixture of oil and produced water on the 29th of November. The rupture was caused due to a pressure build up when the contents of the line froze into long ice plugs. It is important for BP to implement efficient spill containment devices to contain any future leakage.