Officials report no serious injuries as massive drilling rig topples on North Slope
A massive drilling rig operating on ConocoPhillips’ behalf toppled over while traveling along a gravel road on Alaska’s North Slope on Friday afternoon, local and company officials said.
No one was seriously injured and all personnel were accounted for in the incident, which occurred around 4:45 p.m. Friday and involved the Doyon 26 rig, ConocoPhillips Alaska and the North Slope Borough said in a joint prepared statement.
ConocoPhillips said Saturday that eight people — two who were on the rig during the incident and six initial responders — had received medical treatment at clinics nearby and were released.
The resulting fire after the rig toppled over was “contained and controlled” as of Friday evening with emergency responders at the scene, according to their statement.
ConocoPhillips and the borough said that “there was no damage to local community infrastructure and no impact to pipelines or fuel transportation.”
By Saturday afternoon, the response had shifted to “an environmental impact assessment and mitigation effort,” with traffic flow resuming, ConocoPhillips Alaska said.
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy wrote on social media that he has “been in contact with ConocoPhillips leadership” and that there “appears to be minimal damage to the environment” so far.
ConocoPhillips was “working on plans to recover the rig,” he wrote.
The Doyon 26 rig, which is nicknamed “The Beast” and was ordered by ConocoPhillips in 2016, set a long-distance drilling record in Alaska in 2022 and helped the producer unlock oil from a section of western North Slope oil fields.
At 9.5 million pounds, it was hailed as the largest mobile land rig in North America with the ability to develop about three times as much area as conventional rigs.
The rig was built, owned and operated by Doyon Drilling, which is owned by Doyon, an Alaska Native regional corporation.
ConocoPhillips said Saturday that Doyon Drilling “is leading response and recovery efforts under a Unified Command structure including representatives from the State of Alaska, the Federal Government and the North Slope Borough.”
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