BP Cleaning Up Oil Spill On Alaska's North Slope
Work crews for BP Plc were clearing contaminated snow on Thursday on Alaska's North Slope after a Prudhoe Bay well line ruptured, spraying a 34-acre area with crude oil and natural gas. Just how much liquid escaped from the line remains under investigation by BP and Alaska's Department of Environmental Conservation. It remains unclear whether the leak, detected earlier this week, is connected to a decline in North Slope oil production. BP did not return emails seeking comment. Since the spill occurred, daily North Slope production has dropped about 10,000 barrels per day, from 533,000 to 521,000, according to state tracking data. As of Saturday, however, two days before an inspector discovered the problem, production was at 551,000, according to Alaska's Department of Revenue.
ANS oil production to fall 1.8 pct for fiscal year
Alaska's North Slope oil production is forecast to decline 1.8 percent for the fiscal year ending June 30 instead of falling 3 percent as predicted in December, according to a report released this week. The Alaska Department of Revenue predicts production of 521,800 barrels a day (bpd) versus its December forecast of 508,200 bpd. By 2023, North Slope production will fall to 315,000 bpd. The annual spring report comes four months after the state began cutting oil production taxes with hopes of spurring new investment and stemming the decline. Alaska gets more than 80 percent of its state tax revenue from oil production. North Slope production comes largely from leaseholders BP Plc, ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil Corp, and has been in a steady decline.
