Keystone pipeline likely source of Missouri crude spill
An oil leak near St. Louis likely originated from TransCanada Corp’s Keystone pipeline, the company said on Friday, with no projected restart timetable for the portion of the line that remains shut.
The leak volume is estimated at 43 barrels of crude oil on land, according to Missouri’s Department of Natural Resources. The spill and subsequent shutdown of portions of Enbridge’s Platte pipeline and the bigger Keystone line raised fresh concerns about pipeline safety, and about the already constricted flow of Canadian oil to U.S. refineries.
Crews were excavating a segment of the underground pipeline on Friday, TransCanada spokesman Terry Cunha said. He said there was no threat to public safety or the environment.
The 590,000 barrels-perday Keystone pipeline is a critical artery taking Canadian crude from northern Alberta to U.S. refineries. The spill in rural St. Charles County, Missouri, on Wednesday led TransCanada to shut an arm of Keystone running between Steele City, Neb., and Patoka, Ill.
Brian Quinn, a spokesman for Missouri’s Natural Resources Department, said in an email that if Keystone is confirmed to be the leak’s source, it will remain closed until repairs are made.
The exact quantity of oil released cannot be determined until excavation is complete, Quinn said.
TransCanada told Keystone shippers Thursday it was declaring force majeure on shipments affected by the shutdown, according to a notice seen by Reuters. Force majeure is a declaration that unforeseeable circumstances prevented a party from fulfilling a contract.
The leak happened near the Mississippi River, at a spot upstream of the intake for St. Louis’s drinking water supply, said John Hickey, director of the Sierra Club’s Missouri chapter. The immediate concern is that leaked oil could contaminate farm wells, Hickey said.
Keystone feeds refineries owned by BP Plc, Marathon Petroleum Corp and one jointly by Phillips 66 and Cenovus Energy.