BP sued over Prudhoe Bay maintenance

ALASKA – Senior executives at BP PLC face a lawsuit filed by shareholders who claim the oil giant’s poor maintenance practices at Prudhoe Bay led to the partial shutdown of the nation’s largest oil field.

The suit alleges that BP has known for years about the severe pipeline corrosion that led to last week’s shutdown, but took no substantial steps to properly monitor and repair the transit lines that ferry oil straight into the 800-mile trans-Alaska pipeline. The closure has more than halved the field’s daily 400 000-barrel output.Oil from Prudhoe Bay makes up about eight per cent of US domestic oil supply.Chief Executive John Browne and more than a dozen other top BP executives were named as defendants in the suit filed Monday in New York District Court.The suit, which seeks unspecified monetary damages, was brought by investor Sue Pincus on behalf of BP shareholders “to remedy the severe harm caused to the company by its senior officers’ and directors’ mismanagement and neglect.”BP spokesman Daren Beaudo said Tuesday that the company does not comment on pending litigation.Nampa-APThe closure has more than halved the field’s daily 400 000-barrel output.Oil from Prudhoe Bay makes up about eight per cent of US domestic oil supply.Chief Executive John Browne and more than a dozen other top BP executives were named as defendants in the suit filed Monday in New York District Court.The suit, which seeks unspecified monetary damages, was brought by investor Sue Pincus on behalf of BP shareholders “to remedy the severe harm caused to the company by its senior officers’ and directors’ mismanagement and neglect.”BP spokesman Daren Beaudo said Tuesday that the company does not comment on pending litigation.Nampa-AP