BP in bid to keep half of oilfield open

BP chiefs have said they might be able to keep one side of America’s largest oil field open, just days after announcing it was closing the entire field because of leaks and severe corrosion.

The eastern side of the field was closed on Tuesday.

Now BP bosses say they may be able to keep the western side of the field open because the company does not want to shut down the pipeline entirely.

A final decision is expected by early next week.

About 140,000 barrels of oil were still flowing out of Prudhoe Bay early today, said Craig Wiggs, a performance unit leader for BP.

If the western side kept flowing, that would mean the company would be able to maintain the 140,000-barrel a day capacity – and possibly increase that to 185,000 barrels – while work continues on the eastern side. That would be less than half of the entire Prudhoe Bay field’s daily production of 400,000 barrels.

Wiggs said the company had initially decided to shut down the entire field because the leak on the eastern side made officials question their earlier inspections throughout the pipeline. But now, Wiggs said, the company was rethinking whether it could keep the western line open.

“It’s a line we have the best confidence in,” Wiggs said. “We’ve spent lots of time inspecting it in March, April and May after the spill.”

The long-term plan would still be to replace the pipeline on the west side, which is where the company discovered a spill of up to 267,000 gallons in March.

BP also said it took full responsibility for the lack of upkeep that led to the severe corrosion and shutdown.

“BP is the operator of the field. We’re ultimately responsible,” said Kemp Copeland, manager of the Prudhoe Bay oil field.

BP has a contract with Canadian company Acuren to provide corrosion inspections. The area had not undergone a hi-tech inspection called “smart pigging” since 1992.

Acuren officials did not immediately return several messages late Thursday. The Acuren companies are subsidiaries of Rockwood Service, headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut.

BP workers yesterday used ultrasound to listen for signs of thinning walls in the carbon-sealed pipe that carries oil out of the oil field.