Smart Pigs Show No Probs on Prudhoe Lines

According to Dow Jones’s MarketWatch (www.marketwatch.com), early analysis of a smart pig corrosion test conducted last week on a five-mile stretch of BP”s Prudhoe Bay, Alaska pipeline shows no significant problems.

The test, which was required by state and federal pipeline authorities, may enable BP (www.bp.com) to resume crude production out of east Prudhoe Bay. BP said it will know within two weeks whether it has been cleared to resume production on its pipelines in the area.

Production in the area is currently 400,000 barrels a day, just 50,000 barrels shy of BP”s target since the August shutdown. By the end of October, BP plans to have completed a network of bypasses to the transit pipeline, which will enable it to resume full production even if the pigging data turns up new corrosion issues, according to MarketWatch.