By November 27, 2017 Read More →

Damaged part of Keystone pipeline excavated, 1,065 barrels recovered

Keystone pipeline

The Keystone pipeline was shut down in mid-November due to a spill.  Crews continue to work at the site and have cleaned up 1,065 barrels of oil.  Reuters photo via DroneBase.

Keystone pipeline leak in South Dakota shuts down line

TransCanada Corp has crews working day and night to clean up the 5,000 barrel oil spill from its Keystone pipeline leak in South Dakota.

A state official told Reuters the company has dug up the damaged section of pipe.  Brian Walsh, an environmental scientist with the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources said he is not sure if repairs on the line have been completed.

“It (the cleanup) is going as fast as we would hope, they are working 24 hours a day,” Walsh told Reuters.

The Keystone pipeline was shut down at about 6 a.m. on Nov. 16 after a drop in pressure was detected in its operating system.  The leak occurred in Marshall County, located in northeast South Dakota.

The pipeline carries about 590,000 barrels per day of Alberta crude to refineries in the United States.

The company says so far it has cleaned up 1,065 barrels of oil.

Crude inventories at the US futures trading hub in Cushing, Oklahoma, fell due to the shutdown, prompting a boost in US oil prices.  Meanwhile, backed up shipments of bitumen built up inventories in Alberta.

Some analysts are predicting the pipeline will be reopened sometime this week.

On Monday, theNebraska Public Service Commission website noted that TransCanada asked the commission to reconsider its approval for an alternate route for the Keystone XL pipeline.

 

 

 

 

 

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