Leak

A BP plc well in Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay is no longer leaking natural gas, according to the company and the state of Alaska. The well began leaking hydrocarbons last Friday. An oil leak was stopped earlier, but a natural gas leak continued into Monday. “The well is no longer venting gas, which caused an initial spray of crude oil that impacted the well pad…” according to a situation update. “The impacted area is limited to the reserve pit of the gravel pad; however, cleanup responders have not yet confirmed there are no impacts to adjacent tundra. No volume estimate for the crude spray release is available at this time.” The leak was at the BP Exploration Alaska Drill Site 2 pad, Well 3, an oil and natural gas well, in the Greater Prudhoe Bay area, about five miles from the Deadhorse Airport.

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is taking comments through May 15 on proposed changes to the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Five-Year Program. The draft supplemental environmental impact statement analyzes potential impacts from new air quality modeling and may be used to make final decisions about Lease Sales 250 and 251 scheduled for 2018. Public meetings are scheduled April 25 in New Orleans; April 27 in Houston; May 1 in Pensacola, FL; May 2 in Mobile, AL; and May 3 in Gulfport, MS. Locations and meeting times are included in the Federal Register notice. Comments may be submitted via BOEM’s website or to Greg Kozlowski, Deputy Regional Supervisor, Office of Environment (GM 623E), BOEM, GOM OCS Region, 1201 Elmwood Park Blvd., New Orleans, LA 70123-2394.

In the past three months, Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) has reported various leaks at its closed Aliso Canyon underground natural gas storage complex. The latest incident, albeit small, happened Friday with a “minor leak” in an eight-inch diameter above-ground pipeline.

Sempra Energy’s natural gas utility Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) on Tuesday agreed to pay up to $4.3 million for penalties and to implement an infrared leak detection system to settle a case brought by Los Angeles County that is tied to the Aliso Canyon underground storage facility leak.

Sempra Energy’s Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) said a small natural gas leak was discovered and plugged in an above-ground pipeline at the still-closed Aliso Canyon underground gas storage facility along the northern fringe of Los Angeles.

Owner/operator Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) has indicated its shuttered 86 Bcf Aliso Canyon underground natural gas storage field may reopen this year, but most of the 114 storage wells still await final testing, officials said.

A small pipeline leak was found last Saturday at Southern California Gas Co.’s closed Aliso Canyon underground storage facility and quickly repaired. The discovery has re-invigorated those calling for the permanent closure of the troubled facility.

Sempra Energy and its Los Angeles-based Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) utility have said in a regulatory filing that the full costs of the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage well leak are still unknown but could be significant.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has asked FERC to order a halt to construction of the Algonquin Incremental Market (AIM) pipeline project, which would allow four state agencies to continue their investigations into a troubled nuclear power plant adjacent to the pipeline’s route.