Husky Energy says price tag has reached $90M

CALGARY Husky Energy says it’s spent about $90 million responding to a July pipeline spill that sent some 225,000 litres of heavy oil and diluent into the North Saskatchewan River.

The Calgary-based company said in its quarterly results Thursday that it believes the amount spent up to Sept. 30 represents the cost of the incident, but that the overall impact of the spill could be revised.

The company wrapped up shoreline cleanup efforts earlier in October after recovering about 210,000 litres of what spilled.

Investigations into the cause of the incident, and the overall impact, are still on-going, with Husky asking last week for a 30-day extension to file a detailed report on the happening.

The company now has until Nov. 21 to report on further details of the spill including a metallurgic review of the failed pipe and a geotechnical report on the land where the failure occurred.

The spill, affecting an area of about 41,500 square metres, forced the Saskatchewan cities of North Battleford, Prince Albert and Melfort to shut off their water intakes from the river and find other water sources for almost two months.

The company said it expects to recover the associated costs, which have been incurred by Husky Midstream Limited Partnership. Husky is the operator and also holds a 35 per cent interest in the partnership.

Husky sold off the other 65 per cent ownership of the pipeline network involved in the spill earlier this year, along with other midstream assets, for an after-tax gain of $1.3 billion in its latest results.

The asset sale helped bring a $1.4-billion profit for the third quarter, or $1.37 per share, which contrasted with a year-earlier loss of $196 million, or 20 cents per share.