Canada to US natural gas pipeline shut down due to hydrogen sulphide

Natural gas pipeline shut down expected to last for indeterminate amount of time

Canada-US natural gas pipeline shut down after hydrogen sulphide gas entered the system.

CALGARY – Alliance Pipeline says it has shut a major Canada-U.S. natural gas pipeline while it handles dangerous hydrogen sulphide gas that entered the system.

The closure of the nearly 4,000-kilometre pipeline, jointly owned by an Enbridge affiliate (TSX:ENB) (TSX:ENF) and Calgary-based Veresen (TSX:VSN), is expected to last for an indeterminate amount of time.

“Our chief concern now is to ensure the safety of the public, employees and the environment. We are working to remove the H2S from the pipeline in a controlled and safe manner,” said Daniel Sutherland, Vice President, Commercial Operations.

To deal with the situation, Alliance says it’s flaring the affected gas within the confines of the company’s Alameda compressor station in Saskatchewan.

In a news release, Keyera (TSX:KEY) says it had a “brief operational upset” during maintenance activities this week and gas that did not meet sales gas specifications got into the Alliance pipeline.

Seven Generations Energy (TSX:VII) and NuVista Energy (TSX:NVA) say they’ve had to suspend operations because of the Alliance pipeline outage.

The Alliance Pipeline carries 1.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day from northeastern British Columbia to the Chicago area to be processed.

The Canadian Press