Page 13 - NorthAmOil Week 30

NorthAmOil PIPELINES & TRANSPORT NorthAmOil

The twin Line 5
pipeline, which runs
below the Straits of
Mackinac, sustained
damage to its east leg,
but Enbridge has found
it to be minor.

Enbridge submits Line 5 damage

report, posts lower profit

NORTH AMERICA PIPELINE operator Enbridge has submitted the document and have no immediate reaction,
findings of its investigation into damage to an while the PHMSA has not commented.
underwater section of its 540,000 barrel per day Separately, local media reported on July 29
(bpd) Line 5 pipeline to Michigan state – as well that Nessel would not appeal to the Michigan
as federal – authorities. The damage to the twin Supreme Court after a lower court’s opinion
pipeline, which runs below the Straits of Mack- affirmed the constitutionality of an agreement
inac, prompted Enbridge to shut down Line 5 on between the state and Enbridge to build a tunnel
June 18. It initially resumed operations on the beneath the Straits of Mackinac to contain Line
west leg, keeping the damaged east leg closed, 5. The deadline for filing an appeal is July 30.
but was subsequently ordered by a Michigan cir- Nessel has been seeking to shut down Line 5
cuit court judge to temporarily halt operations altogether, claiming it is a public nuisance and an
on the west leg again. The judge subsequently environmental threat. A spokesman for Nessel’s
allowed Enbridge to restart the west leg on July 1. office, Ryan Jarvi, said this week that she would
In the report on its investigation, Enbridge instead focus on other litigation related to the
said it had found that a “small to moderately pipeline. Enbridge said
sized vessel” had dragged a cable across the As this has been going on, Enbridge also
dual pipeline, causing the damage – which had reported its second-quarter results this week. volumes on its
affected an anchor support and worn away The company’s quarterly earnings fell 5% to
the pipeline’s protective coating in places. The CAD1.65bn ($1.23bn) from CAD1.74bn Mainline – the
company identified five vessels that had been ($1.29bn) in the second quarter of 2019 as it
operating in the area and could have caused the transported lower volumes amid collapsing largest oil
damage, four of which had been contracted by demand caused by the coronavirus (COVID- pipeline network
Enbridge itself. 19) pandemic. However, the result beat analyst
The report found that the damage was minor expectations, and Enbridge said volumes on its in North America
and did not endanger either leg’s structural Mainline – the largest oil pipeline network in
integrity. North America – were now rising. – were now
“Our investigators determined conclusively The company transported 2.44mn bpd of
there was no internal or external metal loss, no crude on the Mainline during the second quar- rising.
dents and no safety issues with either the east or ter, down from 2.66mn bpd a year ago. Sequen-
west segments, and the pipelines are safe to oper- tially, Mainline throughput was 400,000 bpd
ate,” an Enbridge spokesman, Ryan Duffy, said. lower in the second quarter.
The company sent its findings to the US Pipe- Looking ahead to the second half of this
line and Hazardous Materials Safety Administra- year, Enbridge said it expects the Mainline to be
tion (PHMSA), the office of Michigan Attorney under-utilised by 200,000-400,000 bpd in the
General Dana Nessel and the state Department third quarter and by 100,000-300,000 bpd in
of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. The the fourth, with full utilisation anticipated to be
state agencies have said they are studying the restored in early 2021.™

Week 30 30•July•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P13