Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline Shut Down After Valve Leak

Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., the largest shareholder is BP Plc, closed the Trans-Alaska system goes after a release of "thousands of barrels."

Leak occurred around 10:20 local time that Alyeska was a test fire command system at pump station No. 9 in the vicinity of the town of Delta Junction, Alaska, the company said in a statement. During the test, causing a power outage, a valve to fail cause the oil to drain into a tank rushed to a secondary containment area.

The leakage is estimated to be up to several thousand acres and containment area may contain as much as 104,500 barrels, said Aleyeska. No one was injured and staff were evacuated. Alaska North Slope producers have the capacity for trans-Alaska system dropped to 16 percent because of the closure.

The 800-mile (1,300 km) pipeline system transports crude oil from fields in Prudhoe Bay to Valdez, the northernmost ice-free port in the U.S.

Phil Cochrane, a spokesman for BP in Anchorage, said all questions to the Alyeska when contacted by telephone.