TransCanada Corp’s Keystone crude pipeline is still operating at 20 per cent reduced pressure, a spokesman for the company told Reuters this week, more than two months after a leak forced the line to be shut down.
Calgary-based TransCanada shut the 590,000 barrel-per-day pipeline, one of Canada’s main crude export routes linking Alberta to U.S. refineries, on November 16 after the leak was detected.
The pipeline was restarted about two weeks later, but the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) ordered TransCanada to operate at reduced pressure after the 5,000-barrel oil leak in South Dakota.
Energy data provider Genscape said late last week the pipeline flow averaged an estimated 524,000 bpd.
The reduced flows have contributed to inventory declines at the Cushing, Okla. storage hub and pressured Canadian crude differentials, according to traders.
PHMSA did not immediately comment on when the line would be allowed to return to full capacity.
(Reuters)
