Tag: United States

US orders Keystone pipeline shut down after leaks: Globe and Mail

The Globe and Mail 

U.S. regulators have barred TransCanada Corp. from restarting its Keystone pipeline until the company can provide more proof that the system is safe, after several leaks in just a year of operation….. 

 Following at least three Keystone leaks in May, the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration took sudden action Friday. It issued a corrective action order that mandates 14 steps TransCanada must take before resuming operations, including demands for information, mechanical and metallurgical testing and a report on all issues and incidents on the line…. 

 For Canada’s oil and gas industry, the Keystone outage is just the latest in a series of pipeline-related headaches. A major Michigan spill on an Enbridge Inc. pipeline last summer resulted in rolling outages that lasted until this spring, as the company worked to fix problems on the line

Document
US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration order to shut down the Keystone pipeline (PDF)

Keystone XL pipeline would accelerate U.S. addiction to Canadian oil: report: PostMedia News

PostMedia News

A controversial $13-billion pipeline project originating in Hardisty, Alta., will accelerate U.S. addiction to Canadian oil, says a newly-released report from Natural Resources Canada.

 “The Keystone XL project is seen as both furthering U.S. dependence on oil, and enabling more oilsands crude to enter the U.S. market,” said the document, released through access to information legislation… 

 “Although the Keystone XL pipeline was certificated in Canada in late April 2010, the company continues to wait for approvals in the U.S. before it can begin construction,” said the report, obtained by Ottawa researcher Ken Rubin. “This . . . has been caused by U.S. opposition to imports of ‘dirty’ Canadian crude oil from the ‘tar sands….'” 

 The Natural Resources Canada report, entitled “Current Pipeline Issues,” was finalized on Oct. 22, 2010, and listed senior bureaucrats… from the oil and gas policy and regulatory division of the department as its key contacts.