The Regulatory Commission of Alaska ruled this week that Hilcorp and BP don’t have to publicly disclose details surrounding the sale of BP’s assets in Alaska.
Hilcorp is buying all of BP’s Alaska business for $5.6 billion. Information the companies supplied to the regulator was blacked out in the documents the RCA released publicly, at the companies’ request. The information includes a revised sales agreement, studies of the trans-Alaska pipeline, risk assessments and minutes from pipeline operator meetings.
The RCA agreed with the companies that disclosing the information would put them at a competitive disadvantage.
The first part of the massive sale already closed this week. Hilcorp has taken over BP’s stake in Prudhoe Bay, and the Milne Point and Point Thompson fields. The privately-owned company is also now the operator of Prudhoe Bay.
RELATED: Hilcorp quietly takes over BP’s stakes in Prudhoe Bay and other Alaska oil fields
But the companies are still waiting for RCA to approve the transfer of BP’s stake in the trans-Alaska pipeline and other pipeline assets.
Liz Ruskin is the Washington, D.C., correspondent at Alaska Public Media. Reach her atlruskin@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Lizhere.
