Enbridge says no coverup in its underestimate of N.W.T. pipeline spill

CALGARY, Alta. - Enbridge says it was not covering up the true size of a pipeline leak in the Northwest Territories, which leaked up to 1,500 barrels into the northern environment.

Enbridge had originally reported that only four barrels of oil leaked from its Norman Wells pipeline on May 9. But the company revised its estimate on June 6, saying 700 to 1,500 barrels had spilled.

The pipeline leak, about 50 kilometers south of the community of Wrigley, N.W.T., has area residents wondering why there was such a discrepancy in Enbridge's estimates.

In the company's first on-air interview since the leak, Enbridge executive Leon Zupan told CBC News that crews only discovered the true size of the spill after they started drilling down into the permafrost to obtain core samples.

"It's really only (been) in the last week to 10 days that we've been able to come up with the assessment," Zupan, who is vice-president of liquid pipelines operations, said on June 7.

"Our initial estimates could only be on what we see," he added. "It's somewhat unique for us because we're dealing with a situation where we have frozen ground. Normally, our pipelines run with warmer product that doesn't allow the frost to trap it in."

Enbridge officials say they don't know how the leak began, but they said the oil leaked out of a pinhole opening. Oil coming out of the small opening has, over time, created a spill about half a hectare in size, according to the company.

PHMSA calls for major work on trans-Alaska pipeline

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has given Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. a list of proposed corrective measures tied to challenges that have spun off from having too little oil in the 48-inch diameter, 800-mile pipeline.

The agency is concerned that Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., the oil-company-owned business that runs the pipeline, can't check part of the pipeline system for corrosion and that it takes too long to restart the line after shutting it down, among other issues.

A PHMSA investigation found that the trans-Alaska pipeline poses a risk to public safety and the environment and that issues tied to corrosion, inspection and pipeline restarts after shutdowns must be addressed.

The pipeline currently operates at less than one-third capacity from its peak of 2.1 million barrels per day. Less throughput means decreased crude oil temperatures and conditions that lead to corrosion.

The cooler oil allows more buildup on pipeline walls of paraffin, a corrosion hazard. Alyeska inserts cleaning pigs inside the pipe to scrape the paraffin from the walls. "Smart pigs," on the other hand, perform other pipeline maintenance jobs, such as the detection of abnormalities in metal, but the inline inspection tools are at risk of being stopped by paraffin.

Lower temperatures also means water mixed in with crude oil is susceptible to freezing in Alaska's extreme cold if the pipeline is shut down, making re-starts more risky if the pipeline has been involved in a long shutdown.

"There is a risk of water accumulation in low points freezing and creating ice plugs which could impede restart of TAPS and damage valves, instrumentation, and other pipeline components," the letter said. The water itself is another corrosion hazard.

The oil companies that own Alyeska and the pipeline - BP, Conoco Phillips, Exxon Mobil, Koch Industries and Chevron - are finalizing a two-year study on how to manage the risks involved in operating the pipeline as the oil flow rate declines.

Alyeska is also paying for a third-party risk assessment of the pipeline from the North Slope to the ship-loading arms at the Valdez tanker port. The study was requested by U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, after a big oil spill last year at a Pump Station 9 near Delta Junction.

The two studies are expected to be finalized in the first half of this year.

The proposed safety order in a letter prepared this month follows a January leak at Pump Station 1 on Alaska’s North Slope. A containment vault collected an estimated 13,326 gallons of oil that leaked from a pump station pipe. Still, the pipeline was shut down for days and producers for a time were limited to extracting five percent of capacity.

To fix the leak, the trans-Alaska pipeline was shut down twice for a total of 142 hours. That disrupted as much as $300 million worth of production. The leak was contained inside a building at Pump Station 1 and did not cause environmental contamination, according to regulators.

The agency proposed 13 corrective measures, including replacement of any piping in the system that cannot be assessed with smart pigs or other technology it approves.

Mexico launches investigation into deadly oil pipeline explosion

MEXICO CITY - Mexican officials say investigators have begun probing a massive oil pipeline explosion that killed 28 people.

Valentin Meneses says a commission has been formed in tandem with state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos to investigate. Menses is interior secretary for the state of Puebla, where the blast took place in the town of San Martin Texmelucan.

Petroleos Mexicanos, Latin America’s largest oil producer, expected to reopen the pipeline as early as Dec. 20 after an explosion killed 28 people and scorched homes in the central Mexican city.

Pemex Chief Executive Officer Juan Jose Suarez Coppel and Deputy Refining Director Francisco Fernandez told reporters on Dec. 19 in Mexico City that the explosion may have been caused by thieves trying to steal fuel, “There are elements that point towards an illegal tapping, but we won’t have a definitive cause until the affected pipeline gets a metallurgical investigation," said Coppel. The probe is expected to last at least three months, Fernandez said.

The 30-inch Nuevo Teapa pipeline in San Martin Texmelucan, Puebla state, exploded at 5:50 a.m. local time on Dec. 19, causing crude to flow into a nearby river and a cloud of smoke to blacken the sky, the Milenio television network reported.

Pemex said that it had five million barrels worth 9.3 billion pesos ($750 million) stolen in 2008. Pemex has detected more than 600 cases of illegal tapping from its pipelines this year, Suarez Coppel said.

South Dakota weighing oil pipeline cleanup tax

PIERRE - An old idea of levying an environmental cleanup tax on oil pipelines in South Dakota took on new life on Feb. 22 in the Legislature.
The Senate State Affairs Committee voted 7-1 in favor of charging two cents per barrel on pipelines carrying more than 10,000 b/d.
The legislation now heads to the full Senate for consideration.
“I think it’s our responsibility to protect the state of South Dakota,” said Sen. Gene Abdallah, R-Sioux Falls.
The legislation, SB 161, is opposed by TransCanada officials, who have completed their international pipeline known as Keystone down the James River Valley through South Dakota.
TransCanada plans to build a second one, known as Keystone XL, across western South Dakota.
Sen. Ryan Maher, D-Isabel, said he brought the latest legislation on behalf of some constituents who will be affected by the proposed XL pipeline through their areas.
Luke Temple, a lobbyist for Dakota Rural Action, said the purpose is to protect landowners and to protect South Dakota taxpayers in general.
The money would be placed in a special fund that would be capped at $30 million and would be available in case of an oil release.