Enbridge says heavy rains that moved the ground may be to blame for a leak in one of its oilsands pipelines. There is no official statement yet on the cause of the leak, but Enbridge says it believes heavy rain in the area may have resulted in ground movement that impacted the pipeline.
Pipeline leak
Major Canadian oil pipelines that move almost 1 million bpd of Alberta oilsands crude remained shut on Monday, after a spill on a smaller line was discovered at the weekend, according to operator Enbridge Inc.
Enbridge, Canada's largest pipeline company, has confirmed that on Saturday 22nd June, 750 bbls of synthetic oil spilled from the 17 km (11 mile) Line 37, which serves CNOOC Ltd's Long Lake oilsands project in northern Alberta. The rupture was spotted about 70 km (43 miles) southeast of the city of Fort McMurray.
Enbridge put two separate announcements on twitter, as follows:
Line 37 - some oil entered a small creek & an unnamed lake. The oil is contained. Boom, absorbent mats, & wildlife deterrents deployed.
https://twitter.com/Enbridge/status/349234922294214658
Line 37 has been shut down after alarms notified personnel. Clean-up of a light synthetic release is underway.
https://twitter.com/Enbridge/status/349234545310179329
Investigation into leak
The leak was investigated near the Cheecham terminal about 70 km southeast of town, near Anzac.
The Alberta Energy Regulator is on scene and investigating and there is no estimated time for the line to be back up and running.
The spill, which may have been caused by heavy flooding that has paralysed the Alberta city of Calgary – headquarters of Canada's oil and gas industry – forced Enbridge to shut two much larger lines as a precaution, threatening a serious disruption in the flow of oilsands crude.
The 345 000 bpd Athabasca pipeline, which carries dilbit blended crude to the Hardisty terminal in Alberta, and the Waupisoo line, which can carry up to 600 000 bpd depending on crude viscosity, to Edmonton, Alberta, were both shut.
Those are two of the biggest lines that carry crude from the northern production centres around Fort McMurray to the storage and pipeline hub in Hardisty, Alberta, connecting to Enbridge's main export pipeline that runs into the US.
Enbridge returned a section of the Athabasca pipeline between Cheecham, south of Fort McMurray, and Hardisty late on Sunday.
"The line segment north of Cheecham remains shut down until Enbridge can ensure its safe restart," the company said in a statement on Monday. "The Waupisoo pipeline from Cheecham to Edmonton is undergoing an assessment today and may be cleared for restart as early as tomorrow," it added.
Fort McMurray production scaled down
The shutdowns have forced Suncor Energy to temporarily scale down production from its Fort McMurray operations.
Traders said the line closure had helped support US crude oil futures, which rose US$ 1.49 to US$ 95.18/bbl, relative to Brent crude, which gained only 25 cents to US$ 101.16/bbl on Monday.
The Brent/WTI spread narrowed as low as US$ 5.91 during the trading day, the lowest level since November 2011. Cash crude differentials in the United States were little impacted by the disruption, however, traders said.
Clean up operations
On Monday, Enbridge said around 75 workers were at the site of the pipeline leak, which occurred in a remote area accessible by helicopter and all-terrain vehicles.
The leak was contained within Line 37's right-of-way and there have been no reports of harm to wildlife.
Edited from various sources by Elizabeth Corner.