By Jeffrey Jones
CALGARY, Alberta, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Enbridge Inc has cut oil flows by 8 percent on a major pipeline that is an alternative to the one that ruptured in Michigan last month, an executive said on Monday, as the company waits for regulators to respond to its reworked plan to restart the downed line.
The cutback on Line 5 to Sarnia, Ontario, from Superior, Wisconsin, represents as much as 39,200 barrels of oil a day. Refiners have been relying more heavily on that pipeline as a crude supply source since the July 26 rupture of Line 6B.
The break near Marshall, Michigan, spilled about 19,500 barrels of heavy Canadian crude into the Kalamazoo River system. Cleanup efforts involving 1,300 workers continue.
'We reduced capacity of Line 5 by about 8 percent last week, and that's the only line that we've taken those measures on in terms of the review that we always do on the various lines that we have,' Steve Wuori, head of Enbridge's liquids pipelines division, told reporters on a conference call.
'The reduction was voluntary. It wasn't mandated by anyone.'
Line 5 has a capacity of 490,000 barrels a day, compared with 190,000 for the damaged Line 6B, which runs to Sarnia from Griffith, Indiana.
Calgary-based Enbridge moves the bulk of Canadian crude exports to the United States on several pipelines. So far it has not been forced to ration space on the system, Wuori said. That measure would reduce deliveries for all its shippers.
However, the company's storage volumes are high, he said.
Refiners in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and southern Ontario have been forced to seek alternative crude supplies since the outage began.
Another Enbridge pipeline, Line 9 to Sarnia from Montreal, has been running at above-normal rates, but it does not carry the same types of heavy crude as the ones from Western Canada, Wuori said.
Prices for Western Canadian heavy oil have been pressured as supplies build up upstream of the line break. Some refineries in Ohio and Pennsylvania have been forced to cut production as the summer driving season approaches its end.
On Friday, Enbridge filed a revised plan to restart Line 6B, agreeing to undertake more testing of the conduit's integrity. The U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has yet to issue its response.
'Line 6B remains shut down as directed by PHMSA's July 28 Corrective Action Order and will not be allowed to restart until the agency is confident Enbridge can address required safety issues,' the agency said in a statement.
Enbridge shares fell 68 Canadian cents to C$50.22 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Monday, while its U.S. affiliate, Enbridge Energy Partners, fell 60 cents to $55.33 in New York.
($1=$1.04 Canadian)
(Editing by Peter Galloway)
(jeff.jones@thomsonreuters.com; +1 403 531 1624; Reuters Messaging: jeff.jones.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: ENBRIDGE/SPILL
COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
CALGARY, Alberta, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Enbridge Inc has cut oil flows by 8 percent on a major pipeline that is an alternative to the one that ruptured in Michigan last month, an executive said on Monday, as the company waits for regulators to respond to its reworked plan to restart the downed line.
The cutback on Line 5 to Sarnia, Ontario, from Superior, Wisconsin, represents as much as 39,200 barrels of oil a day. Refiners have been relying more heavily on that pipeline as a crude supply source since the July 26 rupture of Line 6B.
The break near Marshall, Michigan, spilled about 19,500 barrels of heavy Canadian crude into the Kalamazoo River system. Cleanup efforts involving 1,300 workers continue.
'We reduced capacity of Line 5 by about 8 percent last week, and that's the only line that we've taken those measures on in terms of the review that we always do on the various lines that we have,' Steve Wuori, head of Enbridge's liquids pipelines division, told reporters on a conference call.
'The reduction was voluntary. It wasn't mandated by anyone.'
Line 5 has a capacity of 490,000 barrels a day, compared with 190,000 for the damaged Line 6B, which runs to Sarnia from Griffith, Indiana.
Calgary-based Enbridge moves the bulk of Canadian crude exports to the United States on several pipelines. So far it has not been forced to ration space on the system, Wuori said. That measure would reduce deliveries for all its shippers.
However, the company's storage volumes are high, he said.
Refiners in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and southern Ontario have been forced to seek alternative crude supplies since the outage began.
Another Enbridge pipeline, Line 9 to Sarnia from Montreal, has been running at above-normal rates, but it does not carry the same types of heavy crude as the ones from Western Canada, Wuori said.
Prices for Western Canadian heavy oil have been pressured as supplies build up upstream of the line break. Some refineries in Ohio and Pennsylvania have been forced to cut production as the summer driving season approaches its end.
On Friday, Enbridge filed a revised plan to restart Line 6B, agreeing to undertake more testing of the conduit's integrity. The U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has yet to issue its response.
'Line 6B remains shut down as directed by PHMSA's July 28 Corrective Action Order and will not be allowed to restart until the agency is confident Enbridge can address required safety issues,' the agency said in a statement.
Enbridge shares fell 68 Canadian cents to C$50.22 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Monday, while its U.S. affiliate, Enbridge Energy Partners, fell 60 cents to $55.33 in New York.
($1=$1.04 Canadian)
(Editing by Peter Galloway)
(jeff.jones@thomsonreuters.com; +1 403 531 1624; Reuters Messaging: jeff.jones.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: ENBRIDGE/SPILL
COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.