BP's Leaking Oil and Gas Well in Alaska Successfully 'Killed'

By Dan Molinski 

BP PLC and local and federal authorities successfully brought under control an onshore well on the North Slope of Alaska that began leaking oil and gas last week, the company said Monday morning.

"Overnight the Unified Command achieved source control, and killed the well," Dawn Patience, a BP spokeswoman in Anchorage, said by email, referring to a task force that included BP, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The total amount of oil spilled and whether the crude affected the snow-covered tundra nearby isn't yet clear, though authorities have expressed confidence the crude contamination is contained with a gravel area directly surrounding the well site.

The spokeswoman for the U.K.-based company said the problems with the well may have a slight impact on production. "The incident is unlikely to noticeably impact overall North Slope production," Ms. Patience said.

The leak initially was discovered Friday morning when BP employees saw crude oil spraying out of the top of the well, located at Prudhoe Bay on the North Slope. The spray of crude, along with "minor" oil leakage over the past few days, was fairly isolated and stopped leaking altogether Sunday, according to a statement from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.

BP's operations in and around Prudhoe Bay account for about 55% of Alaska's oil and gas production, according to the company.

The oil giant has had several spills and leaks in Alaska over the years. A 2006 spill caused by a corroded pipeline released almost 4,800 barrels of crude, making it the worst oil spill on the North Slope up to that point in time.

A 2009 pipeline problem at a BP oil field in the state released almost 1,100 barrels of oil. That rupture and spill was a violation of the Clean Water Act, which meant BP had breached the terms of its plea agreement for the 2006 accident.

In more recent years, BP has faced intense scrutiny over its role in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico that killed 11 workers and created the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. federal waters.

Write to Dan Molinski at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 17, 2017 13:45 ET (17:45 GMT)

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