ConocoPhillips Alaska issues details on natural gas release

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - ConocoPhillips Alaska is attributing the release of natural gas at one of its North Slope drill sites earlier this year to a broken barrier during construction of a waste disposal well, when pressure limits were exceeded during freeze protection operations.

The company describes the incident as a unique event and says nothing similar has happened before at one of its sites. The commission that oversees oil and gas drilling in Alaska continues to investigate. ConocoPhillips Alaska has said a shallow gas reservoir that the disposal well had come in contact with was the source of the gas release.

The company says the waste disposal well has been cemented to the surface.

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