Keystone Pipeline Still Closed, ND Leak Source Unclear
The precise source of a leak on TC Energy Corp's Keystone oil pipeline in North Dakota has not yet been identified, a spokesman for the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) said on Monday.There is no estimated timeline for restart of the pipeline and the company is continuing excavation work to isolate the affected part of the pipeline, the spokesman said by phone.Clean-up crews in Walsh County…
Russian Pipeline Fire Could Affect Oil Loadings
An oil leak and resulting fire on an oil pipeline in Russia's Saratov region may affect the loading schedule for Russian crude exports, Igor Dyomin, a spokesman for oil pipeline monopoly Transneft, told reporters. Dyomin said that oil flows through the pipeline could resume in approximately 3-4 days. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Adrian Croft)
No Date Set Yet for Keystone Pipeline Restart
No date has been set yet for a restart of TransCanada Corp's Keystone pipeline, which was shut down on Thursday after a 5,000-barrel crude oil leak in South Dakota, a company spokesman said on Friday. "We regret the impact this has caused customers and we are working to resolve this incident as quickly and safely as possible," spokesman Terry Cunha added. (Reporting by Nia Williams Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
Total: Brazil Drilling No Risk to Amazon Reef
A French oil firm on Thursday rejected concerns that exploration off Brazil could damage a unique coral reef at the mouth of the Amazon river as it awaits final approval to start drilling. "Drilling activity will not impact the reef system," a spokeswoman for Total told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. The company is working closely with Brazil's environmental enforcement agency (IBAMA) and needs their go ahead before it begins to drill, she said in an email.
Alberta Crude Oil Leak Came from Inter Pipeline System
A crude oil leak in central Alberta's Strathcona County on Friday afternoon came from Inter Pipeline Ltd's Cold Lake regional pipeline system, the company said in a statement on Monday. Calgary-based Inter Pipeline has isolated a segment of the pipeline near its Strathcona Terminal in Edmonton for repairs, and said it is working with regulators to investigate the cause of the incident. There…
E. Coast Refiners Shun Bakken Rail Deliveries
Philadelphia Energy Solutions Inc, the largest refiner on the U.S. East Coast, will not be taking any rail deliveries of North Dakota's Bakken crude oil in June, a source familiar with delivery schedules said on Tuesday - a sign that the impending start of the Dakota Access Pipeline is upending trade flows. At its peak, PES would have routinely taken about 3 miles' worth of trains filled with Bakken oil each day.
Gas Pipeline Leak Repairs Begun in Cook Inlet
Divers have begun repairing a leak from an 8-inch natural gas pipeline in the Middle Ground Shoal area in Alaska's Cook Inlet, Hilcorp Energy Co said on Monday. Endangered beluga whales and other marine mammals live in the inlet. The company shut two Alaskan oil production platforms two weeks ago after reducing pressure on a leaking natural gas pipeline in Cook Inlet. At the reduced rate, the leak is estimated to be around 85 to 115 thousand cubic feet per day…
One dies, three injured in Saudi Oil pipeline Leak
An oil leak in a Saudi Aramco pipeline in eastern Saudi Arabia caused one death and three injuries, a Saudi newspaper said on Saturday. The Arabic-language daily al-Watan said on its Twitter account that the oil leak happened near the city of Abqaiq, where the oil giant has major oil facilities. It published photos of a crater filled with oil it said was from the leak but gave no details on what caused the leak. Saudi Aramco had no immediate comment on the report.
Husky Energy Rushes to Clean up Canada Oil Spill
Crews rushed to clean up on Friday an oil leak by Husky Energy into a major Canadian river, as officials focused on concerns about contaminating drinking water of communities downstream. The company said late on Thursday it shut and isolated a pipeline on its Saskatchewan Gathering System, after roughly 200,000 to 250,000 liters of heavy oil and diluent spilled from the line, running into the North Saskatchewan River.
WCS Heavy Blend Crude Slumps on Enbridge Pipeline Shutdowns
Western Canada Select heavy blend crude for September delivery widened sharply on Wednesday after Enbridge Inc shut its Flanagan South and Spearhead pipelines following a crude oil leak on Tuesday. WCS traded as low as $21.75 per barrel below the West Texas Intermediate benchmark, the widest differential in a year, before paring losses to last trade at $20.25 per barrel below the benchmark. On Tuesday it settled at $19.80 per barrel below WTI, according to Shorcan Energy brokers.
Four Petrobras Platforms Halt Output Due to Oil Leak
Four Petrobras oil platforms off the northeast coast of Brazil have halted production after a leak of about 7,000 liters of oil was detected coming from a pipeline linking them, a local oil workers union head said on Friday. Brazil's oil regulator, ANP, confirmed the leak in the Camorim field, 16 kilometers (10 miles) off the coast of the city of Aracajú, and said it had already been contained by Petrobras.
US, Brent Crude Futures Extend Gains after US Job Data
U.S. and Brent crude futures extended gains on Tuesday, erasing earlier losses on lift from a Labor Department report showing U.S. job openings rose sharply in February. Also supportive were remarks from a U.S. Federal Reserve official arguing that it may be too early to talk about reducing monetary accommodation and a partial closure of the Mississippi River after an oil leak. U.S. May crude was up 94 cents at $53.08 a barrel at 11:05 a.m. EDT (1505 GMT), having reached $53.46.
Doel 4 Reactor to Remain Closed Till Year End
Belgian energy company Electrabel said in a statement it expects its Doel 4 nuclear reactor will certainly remain offline untill at least the end of this year due to major damage to the plant's turbine. On Tuesday, Electrabel, which is owned by French gas and power company GDF Suez, said the plant would remain offline until Sept. 15 as it carried out repairs and investigated an oil leak that forced its closure last week. (Reporting by Geert De Clercq; Editing by Andrew Callus)
Reactor Leak Halves Belgian Nuclear Output
Belgian energy prices rise with higher import needs; nuclear power typically meets 50 pct of Belgian power demand. Nuclear shortfall can be met by power and gas imports. More than half of Belgium's nuclear capacity is offline after an oil leak was detected at a reactor, pushing up power prices and leading to higher demand for gas just as Russian exports to Europe appear increasingly uncertain for the upcoming winter.
North American Oil Trains Under Scrutiny
Sheriff Craig Apple assured a room of concerned citizens that county emergency crews were prepared to handle an oil-train accident involving three or four tank cars. Firefighters have been training to combat railcar fires with foam, and evacuation plans are detailed in a 500-page emergency response plan, Apple told residents in a May 12 address. Albany's tracks handle as much as a fourth of the oil pumped from North Dakota's booming Bakken Shale…
North Sea Crude-Forties Stronger on Expected Tighter June Market
North Sea Forties crude differentials jumped on Tuesday, as traders eyed expectations of a tightening market next month with little sign of a recovery in exports from Libya and field maintenance in Norway. Libya's western El Feel and El Shahara oilfields are still closed, a spokesman for National Corp Oil (NOC) said on Tuesday, more than a week after the government said protests were over.
Oil Steady Above $109 on Multiple Variables; U.S. Stockpiles Rising
Libyan output capped at 210,000 bpd; western oilfields still shut; Total moves staff from Tripoli; Sonatrach withdraws staff from Libya. Statoil shuts Snorre B platform in North Sea after oil leak and U.S. crude stocks rose 1 mln barrels last week. Brent oil held steady above $109 a barrel on Tuesday as unrest and low output in OPEC exporter Libya offset downward pressure from expectations of a weekly build in U.S. crude stocks to a record high.
"Soil Shift" Shuts Down Statoil Snorre B Platform
Statoil shut oil production at its Snorre B platform in the North Sea and evacuated a quarter of the personnel there after detecting a soil shift under a drilling template and then oil leak, the company said on Monday. The Snorre field in the northern part of the North Sea is Norway's fourth-biggest oil producer with output averaging 88,000 barrels of oil per day in 2013, data from Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) showed.
Statoil Shuts Snorre B Platform, Evacuates Some Personnel
Norwegian energy firm Statoil shut oil production at its Snorre B platform in the North Sea and evacuated a quarter of its personnel after detecting a soil shift under a drilling template, the company said on Monday. Production was first shut on Saturday then halted again on Monday when more problems were discovered during a restart attempt, the firm said. "Production was shut again on Monday after detecting an oil leak…
Update-China to Probe Veolia Unit Over Water Pollution Report
A Chinese government team will probe a local unit of French firm Veolia Environnement suspected of delaying reporting water contamination which affected supplies in a major northwestern city, state radio said on Monday. Levels of benzene, a cancer-inducing chemical, in Lanzhou's tap water rose 20 times above national safety levels on Friday, forcing the city to turn off supplies in one district and warn other residents not to drink tap water for the next 24 hours.
