A spokesperson for BP Exploration Alaska has confirmed that ice plugs caused the oil spill discovered on its 10 km Lisburne Common, which carries a mixture of crude oil, produced water and natural gas from the Prudhoe oil fields to the Lisburne Processing Centre located in Alaska, last week.
A jagged 24 inch gash was found in the pipeline and the BP spokesperson has said “It looks like it was caused by overpressure in the pipe, which we think was linked to ice forming – the plugs that have formed on either side of the release site.”
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The Lisburne Common Line forms part of the 1,300 km Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS), which transports crude oil from Alaska’s North Slope to Port Valdez in Prince William Sound. TAPS consists of the pipeline, pump stations, a marine terminal, and associated facilities and systems and is operated by Alyeska Pipeline Service Company on behalf of BP Pipelines (Alaska), ConocoPhillips Transportation Alaska, ExxonMobil Pipeline Company, Unocal Pipeline Company, and Koch Alaska Pipeline Company.
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