Trans-Alaska pipeline shut down on leak

Alyeska Pipeline Service Company said the 800-mileTrans Alaska Pipeline, which carries more than 13 percent of the United States' domestic oil production, was shut after the leak was discovered on Saturday.

The operator added the oil was released from a concrete encapsulated pipe outside the Booster Pump Building, and flowed into the building sump.

Oil is believed to be still trapped within the space between the pipe and the concrete of the encapsulated line.

The volume of the spill will be determined through a metering procedure once it is safe to do so.

The closure has caused the North Slope oil producers to reduce production by shutting the wells. British Petroleum, one of Alaska's three major oil producers, has also been forced to cut its local output by 95 percent.

No injuries have so far been reported in the incident. The cause of oil release in the network, which carries crude oil across the northernmost US state, is under investigation.

Crews are on the site and a crisis management team is working in Anchorage. The 800-mile line carries about 630,000 barrels of oil a day between the North Slope and Valdez.
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