A trail of oil: Keystone pipeline’s history of oil spills
2022.12.08 19:09
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: TC Energy’s logo is pictured on a smartphone in this illustration taken, December 4, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
(Reuters) – Canada’s TC Energy (NYSE:) Corp shut its Keystone pipeline in the United States after more than 14,000 barrels of spilled into a creek in Kansas, making it one of the largest crude spills in the United States in nearly a decade.
The 622,000 barrel-per-day pipeline is a critical artery shipping heavy Canadian crude from Alberta to refiners in the U.S. Midwest and the Gulf Coast. It is unclear how long the closure will last.
There have been several spills on the line since it began operating in 2010. The following is a timeline of some of Keystone’s biggest oil spills, based on data from the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
2011
May: TC shut the pipeline for six days after a spill of about 500 barrels of oil due to a failed fitting at a North Dakota pumping station. (
2016
April: TC shut down the pipeline after about 400 barrels of oil leaked in Hutchinson County, South Dakota. (
2017
November: TC shut part of the Keystone pipeline system after a leak in South Dakota, caused by mechanical damage from original construction. Originally pegged at 5,000 barrels, a TC spokesperson later put the estimate at about 9,700 barrels. (
2019
February: Portions of the Keystone pipeline were shut down after 42 barrels of oil leaked on land in rural St. Charles County, Missouri. (
October: An estimated 9,120 barrels of oil spilled in North Dakota. The spill was one of the biggest onshore crude spills in the last decade and the largest for Keystone, according to PHMSA. (
