DJ No Timeframe For Restoring All Prudhoe Output - BP Exec
09/07/2006
By John M. Biers Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--BP PLC is evaluating options for pushing Prudhoe Bay production above the current 220,000 barrels per day, but there is no time-frame for restoring the remaining output, the head of BP Alaska said Thursday.
"At this point, we do not have a schedule for restoring all or a portion of (Eastern Prudhoe Bay) production and can't speculate on how long it's going to take," BP Alaska President Steve Marshall said Thursday, according to prepared testimony.
BP suspended production from the Eastern half of Prudhoe Bay in early August due to pipeline corrosion. BP is evaluating several alternatives for restoring the production, possibly tapping into the Endicott pipeline nearby, which is running well below capacity.
Marshall said some work on the Endicott strategy would be done "by the end of October," but it wasn't clear from the testimony how that progress would affect output. Normal output at Prudhoe is 400,000 barrels per day.
Marshall was expected to face tough questioning from lawmakers at a House hearing, the first of several on Capitol Hill to focus on BP's Alaska's woes.
-By John M. Biers, Dow Jones Newswires, 713-547-9214; john.biers@dowjones.com |
