BP closes two more North Slope pipelines
Oil giant — oops, beyond oil giant — BP is shutting down two more of its pipelines on Alaska’s North Slope, at the expense of 22,000 barrels of crude (worth some $1.5 million) a day. Neither pipe had leaked yet, but BP officials have been monitoring serious corrosion problems, treating the pipes with chemicals to prevent further deterioration. The two pipes will likely be down for weeks while BP determines whether to repair or replace them, probably the latter: “It’s highly likely that the ultimate solution will be replacing the line. There’s enough damage,” said BP senior vice president Maureen Johnson. Luckily (?), the two pipes represent only a small fraction of the 825,000 barrels of crude a day coming out of the North Slope.
