Prudhoe Bay restart on hold for oil spill cleanup

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, March 7 (Reuters) – A return to full production at the biggest U.S. oil field after a major spill will take a back seat to Alaska’s cleanup and emergency response efforts, state environmental officials said on Tuesday.

A large crude oil spill forced the shutdown of about 100,000 barrels of daily production at the Prudhoe Bay field last Thursday when oil leaked out of a transit pipeline.

Emergency response work takes priority to the full resumption of Prudhoe Bay’s daily production, said state officials.

REUTERS