Company: Trans-Alaska oil pipeline likely to restart Friday after spill shutdown

Company: Restart of Alaska pipeline likely Friday

JUNEAU, Alaska — The operator of the trans-Alaska pipeline system pushed back to Friday its goal for resuming the flow of oil through the 800-mile line shut down earlier in the week after a contained spill

Operator Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. had hoped to restart the line by Thursday night. But spokeswoman Michelle Egan said the process of coming back online has taken longer than expected and that it a restart, as early as “first thing” Friday morning, appears more likely.

“No problems,” she said. “We’re in good shape.”

The company has been working against a noon Friday target. Alyeska previously ordered production levels drastically cut to keep from filling storage facilities before the line could be brought back up safely. The restart process must be deliberate and highly coordinated to avoid new problems, Egan said, and the reductions — to 8 percent of normal output — bought the company until noon Friday to get back up.

If necessary, engineers could consider starting up parts of the top end of the line to release some of the volume in the tanks, she said. But, ultimately, once the tanks would hit full capacity, production levels would have to go to zero, she said. The company has been talking regularly with the oil companies, she said.

“We’re still optimistic about meeting that noon window for tomorrow, and I mean that sincerely,” she said Thursday night. “I think it’s very doable.”

The line has been shut down since Tuesday, when Alyeska said a power failure during a planned shutdown to test fire systems caused normally closed valves to open. That resulted in what the company said was up to several thousand barrels of oil spilling into a partially filled storage tank. The tank, in turn, overflowed into a containment yard lined with an impermeable barrier.

Egan said officials hoped to have a better estimate on the spill size soon. She said the lack of a more precise estimate can be blamed on an “intense focus” to restart the line.

The pipeline carries oil from Alaska’s North Slope to Valdez, where tankers pick it up and deliver it to refineries. So far, Egan said there have been no changes to the tanker schedule or to loads that tankers are carrying.

Last month, the pipeline moved 645,113 barrels of oil per day, on average. Average crude oil production in the U.S. is about 5.5 million barrels a day.

The day began with Alyeska reporting “significant progress” since Wednesday, with power restored to a pump station, crews draining oil from a storage tank that overflowed, and cleanup and oil recovery under way.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation investigating the cause of the spill and whether there were plans and procedures in place — and followed — throughout the incident, Betty Schorr, manager of the agency’s Industry Preparedness Program.

If there’s a large spill and no obvious cause, other than an apparent power outage, then officials want to investigate, Schorr said. That process can take months, or longer.