Disruptions continue following Keystone oil spill

Pipeline operator TC Energy Corp has declared force majeure after a spill forced its Keystone oil pipeline to shut down last week, the second consecutive month it has made the declaration, sources said.

Calgary-based TC told shippers that the shutdown means that it cannot carry out 30 per cent of their normal November shipments on the 590,000 barrel-per-day line from Alberta to U.S. Midwest refineries. That implies that the company is estimating the line would be shut for about 10 days, one of the sources said, adding that TC made the declaration last week.

A TC Energy spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment about force majeure.

Last month, TC declared force majeure on Keystone due to a snowstorm in Manitoba.

The pipeline spilled more than 9,000 barrels in rural North Dakota last week. The company said Wednesday 6,800 barrels of oil had been recovered. On Tuesday, a U.S. regulator ordered that part of Keystone remain shut until TC Energy submits a restart plan because of the hazards posed.

TC Energy is reviewing terms of the order and will comply with requirements to ensure the pipeline’s integrity, company spokesman Terry Cunha said.

Keystone is a vital artery for Canadian heavy crude, imported by the United States for blending with other oils and refined into gasoline, diesel and other fuels.

The spill has hardened opposition to the controversial Keystone XL expansion among landowners along its route, who say they hope to use the incident to help block or stall the project in court.

TC Energy is in the process of securing land easements for Keystone XL from scores of reluctant landowners in Nebraska, one of the final obstacles to a project linking Canada’s oilfields to U.S. refineries that has been delayed for over a decade by opposition.

The spill from the existing Keystone line brings the number of significant releases since the system was built a decade ago to four — much higher than the company estimated before it was approved.

Brian Jorde, an attorney for Nebraska landowners, expects landowners to file “many appeals to District courts” to oppose TC’s efforts to seize land by eminent domain, the provision allowing a government or firm to take control of private land for the public good. Reuters