Hilcorp seeks renewal of Cook Inlet oil spill plan, comments due Dec. 1

Hilcorp Alaska has applied to renew its oil spill contingency plan for 12 Cook Inlet platforms and two Kenai Peninsula oil fields, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation said in a notice Monday. The public has until Dec. 1 to comment. The current plan expires June 6, 2027.

The plan, known as an oil discharge prevention and contingency plan, covers Hilcorp's wells and drilling, processing, crude and fuel storage, and oil pipelines. State law requires it to commit enough resources to prevent and respond to what regulators call "a realistic maximum discharge." The existing plan's required what-if scenarios include a hypothetical 75,000-barrel winter blowout at the King Salmon platform.

The platforms are Anna, Baker, Bruce, Dolly Varden, Granite Point, Grayling, King Salmon, Monopod, Platform A, Platform C, Spurr and Steelhead. The department said they either produce oil or hold former production wells not yet plugged or abandoned to Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission standards. On the west side of the inlet, the plan covers the Granite Point Tank Farm and the Trading Bay Production Facility. On the east side, it covers the Beaver Creek and Swanson River fields, both within the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.

The Spurr platform was built in 1968 in 67 feet of water and produced oil until 1992. It holds nine shut-in wells, which are closed off and not producing. In an Oct. 21 decision, Haley Paine, director of the state Division of Oil and Gas, approved Hilcorp's request to end the North Trading Bay Unit around Spurr and the Spark platform effective Nov. 1 and granted a three-year suspension of production, as Alaska News reported Oct. 22.

Spurr and Spark are in what the decision calls "lighthouse mode": unmanned and decommissioned, with only navigation lights and corrosion protection left running.

The commission has ordered the remaining Spurr wells plugged by Nov. 16, 2028. Hilcorp has committed to deciding whether to restart Spurr by March 31, 2029. The division said ending the unit does not release Hilcorp from its responsibility for plugging and restoring the wells and facilities.

Comments can be submitted online or in writing to the department. Residents of the affected area or an affected municipality may request a hearing in writing before Nov. 16.