State regulators are recommending the payment of a fine of $914,000 to punish ConocoPhillips for gas leaks last year at its Alpine drilling site in the North Slope.
It was the oil firm drilling its well during March of 2022. Workers spotted gas emissions from hundreds many feet further away as well as caused by fractures in the top of the drill pad made of gravel. The concrete barrier designed to limit pressure on the well fractured.
The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission found later that Conoco was underestimating the potential of gas production from one of the zones that the well traveled through. Then, just prior to the blowout underground workers pumped in freeze-protection fluids which briefly increased the pressure in the well to levels that were to a level that was beyond the allowable limits.
The company’s problems were compounded by the owner did not submit the required paperwork.
The incident was a red eye for ConocoPhillips It happened in the exact moment that Biden administration was weighing whether or not to let the company to build its controversy-ridden Willow development which is located only thirty miles from the site.
This leak in Alpine was present for several days until the workers were able to control it. It took over three months to stop it at its source. The amount released was approximately equivalent to the annual consumption of gas for one small city subdivision.
A spokeswoman for the company says Conoco is examining the investigation findingsand proposed civil penalty. The company may request a review or hearing should it decide to challenge the commission’s decisions.
