ConocoPhillips aims to continue ambitious winter drilling plans despite toppling of monster North Slope oil rig

A massive oil rig that toppled on the tundra near the North Slope village of Nuiqsut on Friday remained too unstable for responders to get close as of Monday morning, according to state officials.

Rig 26 fell over as Doyon Drilling Inc. crews transported it along a frozen gravel road about 6 1/2 miles from the Iñupiaq village, according to a situation report issued Sunday by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.

Eight people, including two on the rig, suffered injuries described as minor and were treated and released at nearby clinics, authorities have said. A resulting fire after the rig toppled over was “contained and controlled” as of Friday evening with emergency responders at the scene, according to an update over the weekend.

Hazards still existed as of Monday morning for people getting too close to the rig, officials said.

The immediate risk to responders is “big chunks of metal that could fall off,” Kimberley Maher, northern region manager for the Department of Environmental Conservation, said Monday. “Over the weekend I was told it is continuing to settle.”

The agency and other command members are prioritizing efforts to minimize risks to responders so “we can go in,” she said.

The giant rig — dubbed “The Beast” — was said to be the largest mobile land rig in North America. It is owned by Doyon Drilling and was working last week on behalf of ConocoPhillips Alaska. Images in the state report show the mangled rig on the ground just across the road from the Kuukpik Pad, part of Conoco’s Alpine operations, state officials say.

Friday’s incident involved one of six modules that make up the rig, according to a Doyon statement on behalf of numerous entities involved in the response. “As shared previously, there is no direct threat to the community and no traffic concerns at this time,” the statement said. “No pipeline infrastructure was impacted by the incident.”

No information was available as to just what may have caused the structure to topple over.

A maximum of 4,000 gallons of diesel spilled, according to the state situation report. Determining the amount of any potential spill was made easier by clear records of the drilling module’s total fuel contents — 8,400 gallons of diesel, along with 1,930 gallons of hydraulic oil and 85 gallons of ethylene glycol — as well as a fuel check 30 minutes prior to the incident, Maher said.

Responders on site described a visible diesel pool but the ground and a nearby waterway are frozen, limiting any pollution, she said, adding that a few caribou were seen in the area before the rig went down but no wildlife has been seen since.

The drilling module landed on tundra covered in 12 to 24 inches of snow, according to the state situation report.

“The closest oil and gas infrastructure is located approximately 50 feet away and was not impacted,” the report said. “Based on available maps, the site is less than 500 feet of a tributary to the Nechelik Channel of the Colville River.”

The spill area lies within critical habitat for denning and non-denning polar bears and habitat for caribou, Arctic fox, musk ox and ptarmigan, but no impacts to wildlife have been reported, according to the report.

ConocoPhillips has said that Doyon is leading response and recovery efforts under a unified command structure that includes state and federal governments as well as the North Slope Borough. The command includes Doyon, DEC, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Iñupiat Community of the Arctic Slope.

The rig set a new drilling record in 2022 after punching a horizontal well Conoco described as more than 6 1/2 miles. In total, it weighs 9.5 million pounds, looks like a multi-story building, and is made up of multiple modules.

The Beast experienced another road-related issue more than five years ago on its inaugural trip to the oilfields when part of the rig slid off a main gravel road west of Prudhoe Bay in March 2020.