(Reuters) -Canadian pipeline operator TC Energy Corp said on Thursday it had completed a controlled restart of its Keystone crude oil pipeline to Cushing, Oklahoma, safely returning the pipeline to service after a 21 day outage.
“The Keystone Pipeline System is now operational to all delivery points,” the company said in a statement, while operating “with additional risk-mitigation measures, including reduced operating pressures.”
The 622,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) pipeline was shut on Dec. 7 after it spilled 14,000 barrels of oil in rural Kansas, the biggest U.S. spill in nine years, reducing flows of Canadian crude to Gulf refineries.
TC Energy did not publicly identified the cause of the spill.
The company said they could not speak to exact flow rates and volumes on the pipeline, adding that “any decisions to increase the Cushing section operating pressure will be made in conjunction and with approval from PHMSA (Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration).”
Under terms of PHMSA’s corrective action order issued to TC after the spill, the company must operate at 20% lower pressure along the segment that ruptured once it returns to service until it receives further regulatory approval.
The pipeline has had 12 significant incidents in as many years of its life, including major spills in 2017 and 2019, according to the Pipeline Safety Trust, a watchdog group.
TC shares edged up 0.1% in Toronto after the news.
(Reporting by Seher Dareen and Deep Vakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Chris Reese and Josie Kao)
