A new section of BP PLC's (BP) Prudhoe Bay oil pipeline suffered a leak during tests last week, U.K. newspaper the Financial Times reports Monday.
The leak occurred during pressurized water testing of three miles of new pipeline, part of BP's replacement of 22 miles of the pipeline that had become corroded, causing an oil spill and shut down of the field in August 2006.
BP said the leak, which spilled only water with a small concentration of corrosion inhibitor, occurred at a higher-than-normal level of pressure.