Update, 10/23: The line has restarted according to TransCanada. We still have NO report on this anomaly or the 3 others they found in Nebraska last year.
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TransCanada’s Keystone 1 pipeline is shut down, again, for pipeine anomalies. We respond below and will update this throughout the day as we learn more.
“TransCanada uses foreign steel that is weaker than pipe that is made in the USA, so it comes as no surprise that another “anomaly” has been found on their pipeline. Three anomalies were found in Nebraska last year coupled with over 14 leaks, prompting PHMSA to shut down their line and issue a corrective action order. Now, TransCanada is under investigation for not following proper safety conditions in Canada. So the question is, how much longer and how much more risk are Americans going to endure for a foreign tarsands export pipeline?” -Jane Kleeb, Bold Nebraska
Sources:
Weaker steel report: http://plainsjustice.org/files/SubstandardSteelReport.pdf
Union speaks out on weaker steel: http://www.usw.org/media_center/releases_advisories?id=0486
Recent Canadian Energy Board probe into TransCanada safety practices: http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/business/archives/2012/10/20121015-083017.html
PHMSA corrective action order: http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/164719-administration-blocks-restart-of-massive-oil-pipeline-citing-leaks
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Platts Breaking News: TRANSCANADA SAYS KEYSTONE CRUDE OIL PIPELINE DOWN
The Keystone Pipeline has been shut after routine testing found an”anomaly” along the key crude pipeline, a TransCanada spokesman said Thursday.
The 591,000 b/d line is expected to be shut for about three days, spokesman James Millar said, adding there was no spill or leak involved.
Millar said the line was shut “as a precaution to perform preventative maintenance,” after a “small anomaly” was discovered. The integrity of the
line “remains sound,” Millar added.
Because of the outage, TransCanada expects that some of the crude volumes due to be shipped in October may be delayed until November, he said.
Keystone ships crude from Hardisty, Alberta, to Wood River and Patoka, Illinois, and, through an extension, from Steele City, Nebraska, to the NYMEX
contract delivery point in Cushing, Oklahoma.
The outage caused the Western Canadian Select differential fall $3.75/barrel in early trading Thursday, after it was heard to trade at NYMEX front calendar month average minus $19.50/b, its lowest level since early August.
–David Arno, david_arno@platts.com
–Edited by Kevin Saville, kevin_saville@platts.com
