ANCHORAGE (Reuters) - Alyeska is seeking approval to temporarily restart a key oil pipeline that has been shut since Saturday to ensure that its contents don't start to freeze in the region's frigid winter climate, the joint information center said in a statement on Tuesday.
The pipeline has been idled since a tiny leak at a pump station four days ago, shutting in about 600,000 barrels a day of oil production.
Alyeska, the pipeline operator, and Alaskan officials are seeking regulatory approval for the temporary restart, a measure to keep the oil at warmer temperatures in the pipeline. A restart could become more difficult if the pipeline contents freeze.
(Reporting by Yereth Rosen; Writing by Joshua Schneyer)
