The exterior of what was BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc.’s headquarters in midtown Anchorage is seen on Aug. 27, 2019. The company, once a dominant player in Alaska, sold off its assets, ended its production activities and vacated the headquarters building in 2020. But it remains responsible for cleanup of a pair of old North Slope exploration sites. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
BP stopped producing oil in Alaska in 2020 after selling all its remaining assets to Hilcorp, but the energy giant still has some unfinished business in the state: cleanup and closure of two old oil-exploration sites.
The company is responsible for plugging and abandoning a well drilled in 1963 at a site 91 miles southwest of Deadhorse, according to state records. The company applied to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources in July for an off-road travel permit to complete the work…