Sept. 8 (Bloomberg) -- BP Plc's senior corrosion engineer position for its Alaska operations has been left vacant for at least 20 months, even after a March 2 leak that resulted in the largest-ever oil spill on the North Slope.

``There is an urgent need to recruit and rapidly induct a successor for the vacant senior corrosion engineer position,'' according to a June 7 internal BP audit released by the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

The position, vacant since December 2004, has not been filled, BP spokesman Daren Beaudo said today. ``The responsibilities and duties of that position were filled on an interim basis by members of the team,'' he said in a telephone interview.

BP's pipelines leaked an estimated 210,000 gallons of crude oil onto Alaska's North Slope in March. Inspections required after that spill led to the discovery of another leak and corrosion that in some places had eaten away 80 percent of the pipeline wall. London-based BP has had to cut output at Prudhoe Bay, the largest U.S. oilfield, because of the pipeline problems.

The lack of a senior engineer and the arrival of several new employees in key maintenance, reliability, integrity and operations jobs ``reduce the capacity of the teams to take a broader strategic view of the corrosion management program,'' according to the report, written by a team led by John Baxter, director of engineering for BP.

The company's senior corrosion engineer serves as deputy to the manager of the corrosion, inspection and chemicals group, known as CIC. At a Congressional hearing yesterday, the former CIC manager, Richard Woollam, refused to testify about his work at BP.

`Urgent Appointment'

Baxter recommended ``the urgent appointment'' of employees to fill Woollam's position and his deputy's role in an April 2005 report to BP Alaska's management.

``There is little evidence of a management of change process or transition plan, and replacements need to be quickly identified from BP's limited pool of corrosion management expertise or externally if necessary,'' the April report shows.

Woollam's position was filled about six months after he left. The senior corrosion engineer job remains vacant.

Doubling Staff

Woollam's replacement began a staffing review process and the company plans ``to more than double the number of staff here in town that will be working these strategic corrosion issues,'' Beaudo said from Anchorage. The number of employees will go to 27 from 13.

James Torgerson, Woollam's attorney, didn't return voicemail or e-mail messages.

Woollam was transferred out of Alaska in January 2005 after a report by the law firm Vinson & Elkins LLP said his ``aggressive management style'' deterred workers from raising corrosion issues. The firm was hired to investigate complaints of intimidation and retaliation for employees reporting safety concerns.

Woollam was placed on paid leave by the company on Sept. 7, one day before he declined to testify, Steve Marshall, head of BP's Alaska unit, told reporters after the hearing yesterday.

The former manager cited his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination as his reason for not testifying to the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

He was in charge of 150 employees and contractors in that position, which he held for about five years, according to the Oct. 2004 Vinson & Elkins report.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tina Seeley in Washington at tseeley@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 8, 2006 16:10 EDT