Alaska Prudhow Bay mishap slightly cuts BP oil output.Byline: ANCHORAGE: (Image: ) BP Plc's Alaska unit is investigating the cause of a natural gas pipeline rupture earlier this week that shut a small amount of oil production at Prudhoe Bay Prudhoe Bay, inlet of the Beaufort Sea and Arctic Ocean, N Alaska, in the Alaska North Slope region, east of the Colville River delta. In 1968 one of the largest oil reserves in North America was discovered in Prudhoe Bay. , a spokesman for BP said. Oil production has been curbed by 3,000 to 7,000 barrels a day, said BP spokesman Steve Rinehart, a small fraction of the output at Prudhoe Bay, the most productive US oil field. The rupture occurred in a 7-inch-diameter high-pressure pipeline that carries natural gas used to increase reservoir pressure and improve oil recovery, Rinehart said."That line just came apart," he said. "One piece landed on the tundra tundra (tŭn`drə), treeless plains of N North America and N Eurasia, lying principally along the Arctic Circle, on the coasts and islands of the Arctic Ocean, and to the north of the coniferous forest belt. at least a few hundred feet away." No fire or injuries were caused by the explosion, but the blow-up automatically shut down wells on the pad, Rinehart said. BP does not know how long production will be curbed, Rinehart said. As a result of the September 29 incident, several state agencies are investigating, officials said. Among them is the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which is concerned with the natural gas that was released by the rupture into the atmosphere. "If it's a significant release, we could fine them up to two times the value of the gas that was released," said Dan Seamount seamount Large submarine volcanic mountain rising at least 3,000 ft (1,000 m) above the surrounding seafloor; smaller submarine volcanoes are called sea knolls, and flat-topped seamounts are called guyots. Seamounts are abundant and occur in all major ocean basins. , an AOGCC AOGCC Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission commissioner. "But we're not at the point of deciding that until we get all the facts." While there was no spill of oil when the natural gas pipeline ruptured, BP is coping with an oil spill oil spill: see water pollution. that occurred while workers were taking steps to shut down the affected wells. About 150 gallons of crude oil leaked from one of the wells, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. In recent years, BP has been under fire in Alaska for corroded cor·rode v. cor·rod·ed, cor·rod·ing, cor·rodes v.tr. 1. To destroy a metal or alloy gradually, especially by oxidation or chemical action: acid corroding metal. oil pipelines that led to leaks and shutdowns of production at Prudhoe Bay. Copyright 2008 www.tradearabia.com Copyright 2008 Al Hilal Publishing & Marketing Group Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion