Keystone pipeline shutdown could lead to shortage in US

By Barry Ellsworth

TRENTON, Canada (AA) - The shutting down of the Keystone Pipeline after the largest oil spill in a decade could lead to a crude supply shortage in the US, experts said Friday.

The pipeline carries crude oil to the US from Alberta, Canada and US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced Friday it was shut down Wednesday after leaking 14,000 barrels into a creek in the American state of Kansas.

"We are monitoring & investigating the Keystone Pipeline leak first detected (Wednesday) night," Buttigieg wrote on Twitter. He said an order was issued "requiring a shutdown of the affected segment, analysis of the cause, and other safety measures."

TC Energy of Canada owns the pipeline and the company provided no timeline as to when it could be restarted. It could lead to shortages at two US oil refineries.

The pipeline carries more than 600,000 barrels of crude oil a day to refineries in the US Gulf Coast.

TC Energy said the leak has been pinpointed and the oil was contained by barriers.

Any lengthy disruption will lead to depleted crude supplies for the US at a time when the supply situation has roiled markets, BNN Bloomberg reported.

Stockpiles are already low at the largest US crude oil hub in Cushing, Oklahoma.

No cause for the leak has been given but US federal regulator Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is investigating, the agency confirmed to Bloomberg.