Isra-Mart srl:Alaska pipeline leak hits BP share, drives up oil price

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Isra-Mart srl news:

The volatile nature of oil prices was again underlined today after BP announced on Saturday that it has closed the Trans-Alaska oil pipeline following the discovery of a leak.

The pipeline carries oil from the Prudhoe Bay field and is said to carry around 12 per cent of US oil output.

Earlier this morning, light, sweet crude oil futures rose 0.8 per cent to $88.72 a barrel on New York Mercantile Exchange, while BP's shares slipped 2.2 per cent as the market opened to 481 pence a share.

BP said the leak, which occurred at a pumping station at Alaska's North Slope, was "a significant event" and it remains unclear when the pipeline will be reopened.

The news will deal a further blow to BP's environmental standing following last year's catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It also comes just days after a new White House commissioned report concluded that management failure was largely responsible for the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.

In addition, the shutdown will raise further fears over increases in fuel prices at the pump on both sides of the Atlantic.

British prime minister David Cameron is currently facing growing calls to make good a pre-election pledge to deliver a fuel price stabiliser that would seek to reduce fuel duty when prices rise.