BP shutters Alaska field

BP scrambled last week to shut down its giant Alaskan oil field after the discovery of a small leak and severe corrosion in an aging pipeline. The closure of Prudhoe Bay, the largest oil field in North America, will take away about 8% of U.S. petroleum production for several months. BP acknowledged that the eastern transit line at the field had last been tested in 1992 by a corrosion-sensing device called a "smart pig" that runs inside the pipe. "With hindsight, that's clearly a gap in our program," said Bill Hedges, team leader of BP's corrosion management and chemicals program, at an Aug. 7 news conference.