Page 9 - NorthAmOil Week 07 2023

NorthAmOil PIPELINES & TRANSPORT NorthAmOil

Other leaks have
previously occurred on
Keystone.

TC Energy reveals cause of

Keystone spill in Kansas

NORTH AMERICA TC Energy has pointed to several factors that it the US since 2010. The leak was also the largest
says caused the Keystone pipeline to rupture in ever on the 12-year-old pipeline. The 36-inch
December in rural Kansas. (914-mm) pipeline transports 622,000 barrels
Calgary-based TC Energy said analysis per day (bpd) of oil from the oil sands of Alberta
concludes that the failure occurred owing to to the US Gulf of Mexico.
“a combination of factors, including bending On December 7, 2022, the spill occurred in The company
stress on the pipe and a weld flaw at a pipe- Washington County, Kansas, on the section of
to-fitting girth weld that was completed at a the pipeline that goes to the Cushing, Oklahoma has said in a
fabrication facility”. storage hub. The oil sands crude was spilled into
The pipeline’s weld flaw led to a crack that the waters of Mill Creek. statement that
increased over time as a result of ‘bending stress TC Energy said it was continuing a remedi-
fatigue’, eventually leading to an instantaneous ation plan, including an analysis of other areas the bill for repairs
rupture, it said. The cause of the bending stress with potentially similar conditions, the use of and remediation
remains under investigation, the company additional in-line inspections, and further oper-
continued. ational mitigations. could reach up to
The metallurgical analysis identified no issues The company has said in a statement that the
with the strength or material properties of the bill for repairs and remediation could reach up $480mn.
pipe or manufactured fitting, said the company. to $480mn.
The pipeline was operating within its operational The pipeline is operating at a reduced pres-
design and within the pipeline design maximum sure. A controlled re-start of the 96-mile (154-
operating pressure, continued TC Energy. km) section from Steele City, Nebraska, to
An investigation by the US Pipeline and Haz- Cushing, Oklahoma was achieved late in 2022.
ardous Materials Safety Administration is still Most of the 2,687-mile (4,324-km) pipeline sys-
underway. tem was reopened a few days after the spill.
The volume of oil released was reported In 2017, a leak on the pipeline led to a spill of
to have been 12,937 barrels, lower than the around 6,600 barrels in North Dakota, while two
14,000-barrel maximum previously estimated. years later, a spill of about 4,500 barrels of crude
Still, it was one of the largest onshore spills in occurred in South Dakota.™

Week 07 16•February•2023 www. NEWSBASE .com P9