The Canadian company TC Energy, which operates the Keystone oil pipeline between Canada and the United States, confirmed Thursday the closure of this pipeline following a leak in the American state of Kansas.
“We have shut down the Keystone pipeline system and mobilized personnel and equipment in response to a confirmed oil spill in a waterway “in Washington County, Kansas” approximately 20 miles ( approximately 20 miles) south of Steele City, Nebraska,” the group said in a statement.
“An emergency shutdown and response was initiated at approximately 8:00 p.m. (North American Central Time) on December 7, 2022, following alarms and a pressure drop detected in the system,” TC Energy said.
The company also said it had isolated the affected portion and deployed booms to control the leak.
She has not yet given details on the extent or origin of the incident, but promised to provide more information as soon as possible.
The price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil, for delivery in January, was almost stable at 71.97 dollars around 5:30 p.m. GMT. WTI is the American reference variety.
Stretching over nearly 3,500 kilometers, the Keystone pipeline allows the transport of hydrocarbons from the province of Alberta, in western Canada, to several destinations in the United States, including the Cushing terminal in the Oklahoma where WTI is stored in huge reservoirs.
A controversial pipeline expansion project, dubbed Keystone XL, was rejected in June 2021 by US President Joe Biden before being abandoned by TC Energy.