TC Energy Announces Partial Pipeline Restart

TC Energy revealed on Wednesday that it has restarted the Keystone pipeline section that extends from Hardisty, Alberta, to Wood River/Patoka, Illinois.

“This restart facilitates safe transportation of the energy that customers and North Americans rely on,” TC Energy said in a company statement posted on its website.

“The affected segment of the Keystone Pipeline System remains safely isolated as investigation, recovery, repair and remediation continues to advance. This segment will not be restarted until it is safe to do so and when we have regulatory approval from PHMSA,” TC Energy added in the statement.

A map posted on TC Energy’s site showed that the affected segment extends from Nebraska to Cushing, Oklahoma. 

Prior to its latest announcement, Rigzone asked TC Energy on Wednesday if it had any information on the restart of the Keystone Pipeline System. The company told Rigzone that it didn’t have a confirmation of a timeline but added that it anticipated an update on the restart later in the day.

In a statement posted on its website on Tuesday, TC Energy revealed that it still had no updates on the cause of a leak at its Keystone Pipeline System.

On December 7, TC Energy responded to a release of oil from the Keystone system into a creek in Washington County, Kansas, according to a statement posted on its website, which added that the affected segment had been isolated and the downstream migration of the release had been contained.

The Keystone Pipeline System began operation in 2010 and has transported more than 3.6 billion barrels of crude oil, according to TC Energy’s website, which highlights that an additional segment to the Keystone Pipeline System, the Keystone XL Pipeline Project, was terminated in 2021.

The Keystone system, which is 2,687 miles in length, is said by the company to play a key role in delivering crude oil supplies received at Hardisty, Alberta and Cushing, Oklahoma.

To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com