BP Exploration said on Friday it will re-start production in a portion of the Eastern Operating Area of Prudhoe Bay following its earlier shutdown in August this year.

The British energy company will reopen a portion in order to operate cleaning activities and perform an in-line inspection of the crude oil transit line using a smart pig. The US Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety

Administration and BP decided that the line can returned to service, according to BP.

"This is an important milestone in returning all of Prudhoe Bay to production many months in advance of our complete replacement of 16 miles of oil transit lines,' said David Peattie, BP Group Vice President for Existing Profit Centers.

The eastern portion of Prudhoe Bay was shut down on August 10 following discovery of a spill caused by isolated pitting corrosion on August 6.

BP predicts that it can safely restart the field within a week. By resuming full operation of eastern Prudhoe, this should add around 200,000 barrels of daily oil production from the North Slope of Alaska. The Current daily production from the rest of Greater Prudhoe Bay is around 250,000 barrels per day.

Energy