An unknown amount of oil, natural gas and water spilled from a Prudhoe Bay pipeline this week in an incident under investigation by state regulators.

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The state Department of Environmental Conservation said Thursday that BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., which runs Prudhoe Bay, reported the spill Wednesday afternoon.

The spill came from a flow line -- a 24-inch-diameter pipeline that carries the oil, gas and water that come up wells to a plant where they're separated. This pipe runs from Drill Site 9 at Prudhoe.

The leaking of oil and water stopped about 6 p.m. Wednesday. The pipeline has been shut in and is being emptied and will be repaired, the DEC said.

"The spill occurred on a gravel pad and under a snow bank. The snow should enhance the containment of the spilled products," the agency said.

BP told DEC that the leak mainly involved natural gas. "The release point in the flow line is under a snow bank and there is significant snow in the vicinity. The snow is currently being removed to access the spill site so that the contaminated material can be removed and the hole in the line repaired," DEC said.

Eleven wells were shut down temporarily because of the incident, affecting 1,300 to 1,400 barrels of oil production a day, DEC said. BP is working on rerouting production from the wells so they can be restarted.

Prudhoe Bay, the state's biggest oil field, has had a series of spills in recent years that have led to heightened oversight by state and federal regulators of operations there.

BP runs the field on behalf of itself, Exxon Mobil, Conoco Phillips and Chevron.

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