Keystone pipeline in US shut down after oil leak

Washington Nov 17 (IANS) Workers have taken the Keystone oil pipeline in the US offline after it spilled 5 000 barrels of oil in South Dakota officials said.

A TransCanada crew shut down the pipeline on Thursday after detecting an oil leak along the line the company said. The leak was detected along a stretch of the pipeline around 56 km from a pumping station in Marshall County South Dakota The Hill reported.

TransCanada estimates the pipeline leaked 5 000 barrels of oil or about 210 000 gallons before going offline. The company said it s working with state regulators and the Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to assess the situation.

TransCanada is seeking to expand its Keystone pipeline network.

US President Donald Trump this year signed a presidential permit allowing the company to build the Keystone XL pipeline which would transport as much as 830 000 barrels of crude oil a day from Alberta Canada to Nebraska where it would join existing pipelines that feed refineries elsewhere in the United States.

Keystone XL if built would cut diagonally through South Dakota. State regulators have already granted construction permits for the pipeline.

Nebraska regulators will announce their decision on the project next week.

--IANS
pgh/