Alaska turns focus to oil, gas infrastructure after spill

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Alaska officials say they are going to take a look at Cook Inlet’s aging infrastructure to get a better handle on oil and gas operations there following the recent discovery of an oil leak.

The spill between two production platforms owned by Hilcorp Alaska LLC was spotted Saturday. The company removed all oil from the 8-inch (20.3-centimeter) diameter pipeline by Sunday.

The state has yet to determine how much oil was dumped into the ocean, but Hilcorp has said it was less than three gallons.

The leak is the second in Cook Inlet this year for Hilcorp Alaska. Processed natural gas continues to spew into the inlet from an underwater pipeline that supplies four other production platforms after the leak was discovered in February. Company officials estimate it has been leaking since mid-December.

Kristin Ryan with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation said the state will compile a report on the inlet’s oil and gas activity over the next year. The state may then decide to make regulation changes, Alaska’s Energy Desk reported (https://bit.ly/2oAWTmk).

State regulators will conduct the review to “try to have a better record of what pipes are where, who owns them, how old are they, what’s their inspection frequency,” said Ryan, director of the department’s Division of Spill Prevention and Response.

Much of the oil and gas infrastructure in Cook Inlet was first installed in the 1960s, although various pieces of equipment have been updated over the years.

Hilcorp Alaska, a subsidiary of Houston-based Hilcorp, declined to comment on both the gas leak and the oil leak.

Ryan said the state has not yet observed any impacts on wildlife from the recent oil leak but that there will likely be a penalty for Hilcorp.

“We have a zero tolerance for oil in the environment, and the release of oil is something we take very seriously. So yes, I assume there will be a penalty, which is a fine for this release,” she said.

Cook Inlet stretches 180 miles (290 kilometers) from the Gulf of Alaska to Anchorage and is home to an endangered population of beluga whales. It is also habitat for humpback whales, the western population of Steller sea lions and northern sea otters. Harbor seals, killer whales and porpoise use the inlet.

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Information from: KSKA-FM, https://www.kska.org