Internal pipe corrosion blamed for Prudhoe Bay spill

March 21, 2006
Internal corrosion is being blamed for the crude oil spill discovered Mar. 2 by BP Exploration Alaska (BPXA) operators on a 34-in. oil transit pipeline at Prudhoe Bay, Alas.

Judy Clark
Senior Associate Editor

HOUSTON, Mar. 21 -- Internal corrosion is being blamed for the crude oil spill discovered Mar. 2 by BP Exploration Alaska (BPXA) operators on a 34-in. oil transit pipeline at Prudhoe Bay, Alas.

Officials said the leak emanated from a ¼-in. hole in a small section of pipe in a buried culvert at a caribou crossing. The preliminary findings were issued earlier this week by a team of BPXA and Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation officials, who are jointly investigating the leak.

The spill—201,000 gal, "plus or minus 33%," BP said—is limited to a 1.93-acre area of tundra and frozen lake surface between Gathering Center 2 (GC-2) and GC -1 on the company's western operating unit.

The damaged GC-2 pipe section has been repaired but remains shut down, while BP inspects the 3-mile line section to ascertain whether any other defects exist along the pipeline. BP spokesman Daren Beaudo said that over the last 6 years BP has conducted 85 external inspections on the affected oil transit pipeline and 139 internal inspections with ultrasonic testing.

The line is expected to reopen in 4-6 weeks, BP said.

Deliveries affected
The GC-2 pipe section transfers oil from one of six processing plants at the Prudhoe Bay complex to the Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS). It supplies about 10% of the crude oil volume fed into TAPS. Twelve well pads and about 230 wells served by the pipeline also are shut in.

However, other pipelines at the Prudhoe Bay complex continue to supply crude oil to TAPS, and Beaudo said plans are under way to reopen the shut in wells and reroute to other pipelines at the complex some 50-75% of the oil normally carried by the GC-2 line.

Meanwhile, around-the-clock clean-up efforts are continuing in temperatures that dip as low as -70° F. By Mar.19 BPXA reported it had collected 63,546 gal of free-flowing oil, 328 cu yards of contaminated gravel, and 5,209 cu yards of oil-contaminated snow.

Contact Judy Clark at [email protected].