British oil giant BP said it had begun shutting down the Prudhoe Bay oil field in Alaska after discovering a small pipeline spill in a move that will cut production by 400,000 barrels per day.The output reduction, which amounts to about 8% of US production, pushed oil prices up more than 1%.New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in September, gained $1.24 to $76.00 a barrel early today from the closing price of $74.76 in the United States on Friday.Prices touched an intra-day high of $76.05 per barrel in electronic trade, but were still below the all-time record of $78.40 a barrel reached on July 14.Brent North Sea crude for September delivery was up 97 cents to 77.11, off its all-time peak of 78.18 on July 17.The new production strains come at a time when prices are already under severe pressure from geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil exporter.BP America chairman and president Bob Malone said in a statement: "We regret that it is necessary to take this action and we apologise to the nation and the state of Alaska for the adverse impacts it will cause."The shutdown began yesterday and will take days to complete, the company said. The decision followed an internal report received Friday on an inspection of an oil transit line in late July.Onsite inspections found unacceptably high corrosion on the pipeline, a leak and a small spill estimated at 4 to 5 barrels, the company said. The spill has been contained and the clean-up operation is underway.
