By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Feb. 18 -- BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. has until Mar. 3 to submit a plan for managing Prudhoe Bay wells having high outer annulus pressure, and it already has submitted results of a hazard study that it previously conducted.
The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission issued a Jan. 16 order requiring the well management plan following an Aug. 16, 2002, explosion and fire at Prudhoe Bay well A-22 that seriously injured a well pad operator (OGJ, Sept. 9, 2002, p. 8).
An AOGCC spokesman told OGJ that the Jan. 16 order originally had a Feb. 14 deadline, but BP requested and received an extension until Mar. 3.
The AOGCC is considering expanding the Jan. 16 order into a rule that would give the agency more oversight in the maintenance of high-pressure wells. The creation of a rule would require a public hearing process.
BP spokesman Daren Beaudo said the company has improved its management of high-pressure wells, including changes to monitoring, worker training, and other procedures similar to those the AOGCC order requested.
"A lot of the elements of the order seem to codify most, if not all, of the actions that we've already pledged or taken," Beaudo said. "We have cooperated with all the requests and we are working with them to come up with a final order."
BP temporarily shut in 137 North Slope oil wells following the accident in order to investigate the integrity of subsurface casings on those wells. The wells involved produce an aggregate 45,000 b/d, representing 5% of total North Slope production.
Natural gas produced in association with oil contributes to the annulus pressure on those wells, the company has said.
The AOGCC regulates oil and gas operations to ensure efficiency, prevent waste of state resources, and protect Alaska's interests.
