The oil leak in the Keystone Pipeline system, which carries crude oil from Canada to multiple U.S. states, has been contained, according to TC Energy, parent company of the pipeline operator TC Oil.
Earlier, on Dec. 9, it had said that the “downstream migration of the release” was contained. TC Energy has deployed over 250 personnel, including third-party environmental specialists to deal with the situation. Crews have begun preparing to deal with the rains forecast for Monday.
According to a statement by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the spill has not affected drinking water wells. However, surface water at Mill Creek is believed to have been impacted.
The company’s teams are “actively” investigating the cause of the incident, it said, while adding that a timeline for restarting operations has not been confirmed. Services will only resume when it is safe to do so and the regulator gives the approval, TC Energy stated.
Price Impact, Oil Spills
According to oil and refined products analyst Patrick De Haan, the Keystone Pipeline situation may soon be reflected in gas prices.The 2,700-mile pipeline carried Canadian oil to refineries in Texas, Oklahoma, and Illinois. Roughly 600,000 barrels of oil are moved daily from Canada to Cushing, Oklahoma.
The last largest spill in the Keystone Pipeline occurred in 2017, when more than 6,500 barrels of oil spilled near Amherst in South Dakota. The second-largest spill occurred in 2019 near Edinburg, North Dakota, with 4,515 barrels.