Drill Site 6, Well 11, Mixed Product Spill

Location: Drill Site 6, Well 11, Prudhoe Bay, North Slope, Alaska.
Time/Date: The spill was discovered at approximately 10:30 AM on December 21, 2009 by a BPXA operator who witnessed an anomaly on the drill site’s surveillance system and proceeded to investigate the source. BPXA notified ADEC at approximately 11:17 AM on December 21, 2009.
Spill Id: 09399935501
Product/ Quantity: The spill resulted from a 6-inch three-phase well line carrying a mixture of crude oil, produced water, and natural gas. The spill volume was estimated to be 500-700 gallons.
Cause: The cause of the spill is separation of the well’s 6-inch three-phase flow line. The separation occurred when operators over-pressured the line in an attempted to restore flow to the frozen well using a backflow system of artificial gas lift.