Corrosion, oil spill prompt shutdown of Alaskan oil field
AP: 7 August 2006

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - BP Exploration Alaska has begun shutting down the Prudhoe Bay oil field. The company says it has discovered unexpectedly severe corrosion and a small spill from an oil transit pipeline. Company officials say it will take days to shut down the field. Once the shutdown is complete, it"s expected to reduce oil field production by 400,000 barrels a day. In a prepared statement, BP America Chairman and President Bob Malone says the company regrets that it"s necessary to take the action. And he says the company apologizes to the nation and to Alaska "for the adverse impacts it will cause." Prudhoe Bay represents about half of Alaska"s oil production and about eight percent of U-S production, according to the US Energy Information Administration.