TC Energy removes ruptured segment of the Keystone Pipeline

Canadian energy company TC Energy said yesterday that it had safely removed the ruptured segment of the affected pipeline and has sent it to an independent lab for metallurgical testing as directed by the US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).

MAP: TC Energy allowed crude flows to resume at the unaffected section of the Keystone Pipeline on 14 December. TC Energy

TC Energy shut the entire Keystone Pipeline on 7 December, after an oil leak of about 14,000 bbls was detected in a creek in Washington County in Kansas, US. The company later resumed crude flows in the unaffected section of the Keystone Pipeline that runs from Canada’s Alberta through to the US Wood River in Illinois.

However, the section of the pipeline that runs through Kankas to Cushing, Oklahoma, where the oil leak occurred, is still closed.

TC Energy says about 7,599 bbls of an oil-water mixture have been recovered from the creek since the incident happened. It warns that upcoming cold weather in the area is likely to delay oil spill clean-up.

The company has already filed its plans to restart the Keystone Pipeline with US regulators, Bloomberg reported citing sources. It says TC Energy aims to resume full crude flows from 28-29 December, pending plan approval by PHMSA.  

By Nithin Chandran

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