BP PLC (BP) has been forced to shut down the Raven oil field in Alaska after losing a lawsuit against the owner of the land where the field is located, a spokesman for the company said late Tuesday.

BP shut down two producing wells and one injector well on the Raven field on Dec. 30, spokesman Steve Rinehart said in an email. "Production impact will be minor, well within the normal daily swing in production from the North Slope ," he said.

The lawsuit was brought by the Oengas, a native Inupiat family who own the land around Heald Point, on Alaska 's North Slope . The Oenga family leased land to BP for oil production from the offshore Niakuk field, but the company was not authorized to produce oil from the Raven field, said the Oenga family lawyer, Ray Givens, in a statement.

The Oenga family alleges BP has produced between $35 million and $40 million worth of oil from Raven in the last two years and is seeking $15 million in compensation, Givens said. "A [court] decision on the exact amount of damages owed is still pending," he said. 

BP is still reviewing whether to appeal the court's decision, said Rinehart.

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