Corrosion causes BP oil leaks in Alaska
21 Apr 2006
Anchorage, Alaska -- BP has blamed corrosion for two major leaks on its pipelines at the company's Prudhoe Bay, Alaska oil field, which have necessitated a massive clean up operation in the tundra region.
Anchorage, Alaska -- BP has blamed corrosion for two major leaks on its pipelines at the company's Prudhoe Bay, Alaska oil field, which have necessitated a massive clean up operation in the tundra region.
On 6 April, BP discovered a leak of about 12,000 cubic feet of natural gas at Prudhoe Bay, which was linked to corrosion, according to Daren Beaudo, a spokesman for BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc.
External corrosion apparently created a three-inch hole in a pipeline that carries natural gas into a well to make it easier for oil to flow out, the BP Alaska spokesman confirmed.
The incident followed a more serious leak on 2 March, which resulted in a spill of around 200,000 gallons of crude oil. The company again identified pipeline corrosion as the cause of the leak.
“The oil cleanup has gone extremely well with almost all (99%) of the site cleaned up to agency screening standards. Also, production is back to about 70,000 b/d through a 24-inch bypass line,” Beaudo said in a written statement to Process Engineering.