Natural gas leak slows oilsand work
The National Energy Board is investigating a leak in a TransCanada natural gas pipeline in a remote corner of northwestern Alberta that cut power to upgraders in the region.
“TransCanada has had a rupture on its NOVA gas transmission line system,” board spokeswoman Rebecca Taylor said Thursday. “The pipeline is currently shut down and we have NEB inspectors currently en route to the location.”
Company spokesman Shawn Howard said a drop in pressure on the line, 140 kilometres west of Fort McMurray, was detected about 2:50 a.m. Thursday.
Trans Canada later said most service on the line had been restored. Howard said the leaking sec- tion was isolated and TransCanada was working to restore full service.
Oilsands producers in the area were slowed by the leak, which caused natural gas-fired power units to be scaled back.
The Syncrude upgrader was not shipping any product, Siren Fisekci, a spokeswoman for Canadian Oil Sands Ltd., the project’s largest owner, said earlier Thursday. A spokesman for Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. said production from its Horizon upgrader was fully shut down and heavy oil operations at Woodenhouse in Alberta were ramped down.
A Suncor spokeswoman said the company’s operations had been slowed, but it was too early to say how much.
Combined, the three up- graders can produce 810,000 barrels of light crude a day.
No public safety threat was expected from the leak in the 92-centimetre-wide pipe. It carries sweet gas, which is low in poisonous hydrogen sulphide.
The nearest residence is about 50 kilometres away. Although a work camp is located a couple of kilometres from the site, Taylor said it had not been evacuated.
“Natural gas, particularly sweet natural gas, does tend to dissipate quite quickly into the atmosphere,” Taylor said. “You wouldn’t see pooling of product on the ground.”
First Nations in the area were notified of the leak, she added.
TransCanada isn’t yet sure what impact the leak may have on gas customers in the area, Howard said.
A spokesman for the Transportation Safety Board said the agency was aware of the leak and was following up with the company to gather more information.
Western Canada Select crude strengthened by $1.25 to a discount of $28.75 a barrel against benchmark West Texas Intermediate Thursday afternoon in New York, according to Calgary oil broker Net Energy Inc.; the narrowest discount since Sept. 23. Syncrude light oil gained 60 cents to a $10 discount, Net Energy said. The narrowing differentials were a reaction to reports that CNRL, Syncrude and Suncor were slowing or shutting production, said David Bouckhout, senior commodity strategist for Toronto-Dominion Bank.