Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. said the leak, which was discovered on Saturday 8 January at 8.15 am, was coming from a section of below-ground piping encased in concrete next to Pump Station 1, the first pump station on the 1,287 km long, 48 inch diameter, crude oil pipeline.
The pump station at Prudhoe Bay takes in all the crude from North Slope oil fields before it is delivered to the main line and goes down the trans-Alaska pipeline to Valdez, where it is loaded onto tankers for delivery to the US West Coast.
The pipeline, which normally carries between 630,000 and 650,000 barrels, was shut down at 8.50 am on 8 January. Crews have started the process of recovering oil from the site and have recovered more than 90 per cent of the oil from a booster pump room basement at the pump station, amounting to an estimated 9–10 barrels.
Engineers are evaluating options, including developing a plan to bypass the affected piping in order to safely restart the pipeline.
There are no injuries or apparent impacts to the environment as a result of this incident.
Alyeska President Tom Barrett said “We have a significant amount of resources, tools and personnel on site at Pump Station 1 responding to this event. Our goal is to engineer and implement a solution so that we can safely return the pipeline to service as quickly as possible.”
The Trans Alaska Pipeline, operated by Alyeska Pipeline Service Co on behalf of its five owning companies, transports oil from the North Slope of Alaska to the northern port of Valdez, Alaska. In consequence of the shutdown, production from North Slope oil fields has been reduced to 5 percent of normal output. Supplies fell to 46,238 barrels on 9 January, according to the Alaska Department of Revenue. The pipeline system transported an average 642,261 bbl/d last month, according to Alyeska’s website.
