With US leak repaired, Keystone pipeline is set to reopen

The Keystone pipeline will resume oil deliveries on Tuesday after being shut down because of a leak in South Dakota, its operator TransCanada announced Monday.

The company's "repair and restart plans have been reviewed by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) with no objections, permitting a safe and controlled return to service," TransCanada said in a statement.

The PHMSA falls under the US Transportation Department.

The pipeline, TransCanada added, will initially be operated at "a reduced pressure," before ramping up "to ensure a safe and gradual increase in the volume of crude oil moving through the system."

A spill of about 5,000 barrels of oil earlier this month in a remote part of South Dakota forced the company to shut down the 4,324-kilometer (2,700-mile) conduit, which runs from the Canadian province of Alberta to oil terminals in Cushing, Oklahoma and Patoka, Illinois.

In the spring, US President Donald Trump gave the green light for construction of the larger Keystone XL pipeline, which his predecessor Barack Obama had rejected amid environmentalists' warnings about the potential for serious leaks and ecological damage.

With Keystone XL, TransCanada aims to more than double the current capacity of the line and have a direct hookup with oil refineries on the US Gulf Coast.

Source: AFP