NEW YORK (Reuters) –
BP Plc discovered an oil and gas spill on a pipeline that serves the giant Prudhoe Bay oil fields in Alaska over the weekend, a company spokesman said on Monday.
BP was assessing damages after it found the leak early Sunday. The line is one of dozens serving Prudhoe Bay, the biggest U.S. oil field complex, whose production usually tops 400,000 barrels per day, BP spokesman Steve Rinehart said by phone from Alaska.
Prudhoe Bay output was not immediately affected. The company may be forced to shut in some oil production as it repairs the leaking line, or idles others that share a T-shaped pipe support infrastructure, Rinehart said.
"There may be some associated impact with neighboring lines, but at this point there's no way to quantify that," Rinehart said.
The spill occurred on an BP-operated, 18-inch common line carrying a mixture of crude, water and natural gas, Alaska's Department of Environmental Conservation said in a situation report. What caused the spill wasn't clear.
The line, which transports hydrocarbons to a gathering station before supplies are embarked on a larger southbound pipeline, was not operating when the leak was found, although it held some oil and gas, Rinehart said.
It was not clear how much oil spilled. A spill area estimated by Alaskan authorities at 8,400 square feet of "snow-covered tundra" was not expanding, Rinehart said.
No contamination reached the waters of Prudhoe Bay, a spill report issued by Alaskan authorities said.
BP faced serious operational issues in Alaska in 2006, when it discovered extensive pipeline corrosion following an oil spill, forcing it to temporarily shut in much of Prudhoe Bay's output and later pay environmental fines.
The line affected by Sunday's spill is linked to the Lisburne production center, which processes part of Prudhoe Bay's output, according to a company website. A cleanup plan for the spill site is subject to approval by Alaskan authorities, Rinehart said.
BP shares fell on Monday by 1.6 percent on the London Stock Exchange.
(Additional reporting by Bruce Nichols in Houston; Editing by Walter Bagley)
