Fire shuts main Canada-U.S. crude oil pipeline

[Newsjock]

Source: Reuters

NEW YORK — A fire and explosion in Minnesota on Wednesday forced Enbridge to shut most of the main pipeline that supplies Canadian crude to Midwest refineries, halting nearly a fifth of U.S. imports and sending prices up $1.

Two Enbridge employees were killed in the explosion and fire, the company said in a statement. A spokeswoman for the county said the fire could burn for another three days.

... Canada is the biggest supplier of foreign crude to the United States, accounting for almost one-fifth of its over 10 million bpd of imports, government data show.

Nearly all of that is delivered via the Enbridge system.

... It supplies 62 per cent of the crude refined in the Chicago area and 82 per cent of Ontario's demand, according to the website of U.S. arm Enbridge Energy Partners L.P

Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071129.wenbridgefire1129/BNStory/energy/home

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Four dollar gas

and RIP for the workers killed

[Eagle_Eye]

8. The Department of Homeland Security never saw this one coming - or maybe they did

After several BILLION dollars spent on the DHS, and Chicago and most of the midwest gets hammered by a single point failure in a crude oil pipeline.

What the hell has the Bush administration been spending all that money on? Here is an example of a problem DHS is supposed to deal with, but the result is that Bush funnels money to his rich defense contractor buddies, but the American people get no benefit from it.

And to add insult to injury, Big Oil gets to ring the cash register all through the Christmas season.

This incident needs a Congressional investigation with Bush / Cheney as the primary focus.

[snappyturtle]

27. Don't worry, I'm sure Norm Coleman is on top of this!

:sarcasm:

[Eagle_Eye]

43. Norm would love to be on the investigating committee - he would direct it down some dark alley

He would have the committe spending months and millions of dollars to determine which way the oil flowed in the pipe line.

Norm would be Bush and Cheney's best friend in that investigation.

[hedgehog]

35. That's IF you can actually get gasoline. So many refineries were

shut down the last 30 years, I'm not sure the remaining ones can take up the slack should we lose one or two.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

2. $10 says oil hits $99 a barrel tomorrow. nt.

[RantinRavin]

33. I'll take that bet

I'm always looking for an easy 10 bucks.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

34. offer expired at midnight

:P

[Skarbrowe]

3. They had to do something. Didn't oil drop to 90buck a barrel today?

Enron type stuff.

[Ghost Dog]

4. Update from Reuters

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071129/bs_nm/enbridge_fire_dc

...

The explosion about 3.0 miles southeast of its Clearbrook, Minnesota, terminal, shut down a line that carries an estimated 1.9 million bpd of Canadian crude, equivalent to about 9 percent of total U.S. oil demand.

Oil prices roared more than 4 percent higher on the news, with traders fearing that the outage would leave mid-continent refiners short of crude. By 5:15 a.m. EST U.S. futures were up $3.51 at $94.13 a barrel, rebounding from Wednesday's fall.

...

Canada is the biggest supplier of foreign crude to the United States, accounting for almost one-fifth of its over 10 million bpd of imports, government data show.

Nearly all of that is delivered via the Enbridge system.

...

The U.S. holds 700 million barrels in its Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) in four sites around the Gulf, although there is limited capacity to pump those supplies to northern refiners.

...

A county official said the fire could burn for three days.

"The area under fire now is 100 feet by 100 feet," Jeanine Brand, County Attorney and Public Information Officer for Clearwater County, said by telephone.

Enbridge was not able to say what caused the blast but said it was working with federal and state authorities to begin a thorough investigation.

...

A lasting disruption to Lines 3 and 4 -- which combined pump over 1.1 million bpd of mainly heavy and medium crude -- would put a strain on landlocked Midwest refiners such as Flint Hills Resources and Marathon Oil Corp (MRO.N), which have few immediate alternatives to the Canadian supplies.

That in turn could drain stocks in the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery point for New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) oil futures, although the Enbridge line does not flow directly there.

Refineries owned by Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N), BP Plc (BP.L) and Murphy Oil Corp (MUR.N) are also linked to the pipeline.

/...

[lonestarnot]

12. And MSM is silent. Not one word about it on any channel surfing this a.m.

[Ghost Dog]

15. Now that snippet of information is indeed interesting, thanks. n/t

[ChairmanAgnostic]

26. they are busy ignoring Rudy's thieving ways, too.

[lonestarnot]

40. and his fraternization with terrorist networks too.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

45. didja hear Randi rail on him?

I had NO clue about his effin Qatar bullshit. The author/journalist she interviewed was wonderful. I only wish I would have caught his name

[snappyturtle]

30. I haven't heard anything on teevee yet but found this:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12400801/


To me the article sounds like a lot of hand wringing and "not to worry" messages but if the pipeline supplies 9 percent of U.S. crude, how can it not effect the market?

[Ghost Dog]

31. knitter4democracy #22 mentions NPR. That's public radio, is it?

I use radio; I've no TV, these many years passed.

And I'm not in the USA, or even mainland/mainstream Europe (or UK).

Things would get tough, however, on this too-pleasant island without sophisticated energy (=water, and most everything else) supply.

At least, here, the COLD is not a problem.

[snappyturtle]

37. Yeah..NPR is National Public Radio. I just find it hard to believe

MSM would miss a chance to show more fire on teevee! But, then again it's in MN.

[lonestarnot]

41. Someone told me they heard it on NPR also.

[amandabeech]

36. CNBC had some coverage.

Not enough to panic anyone, though.

[lonestarnot]

42. You waitin' for a panic?

:banghead:

[The_Warmth]

5. Anyone with knowledge of pipelines?

What kind of failure is needed for an explosion?

[Eagle_Eye]

6. It requires the kind of failure for Bush's oil buddies to make more money

[Cooley Hurd]

7. Another article that goes in depth about the Enbridge pipelies:

http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKSP30290420071129

<snip>
The fire broke out on line 3, which had been shut down for maintenance on Wednesday in order to investigate a small leak, Enbridge spokesman Larry Springer told Reuters.

He said all four lines of the pipeline will be shut down until the fire dies down enough to allow for inspections of lines 1 and 2, which are located several hundred feet away from the source of the fire and explosion. Springer warned that larger Lines 3 and 4 were likely to remain shut for some time.
</snip>

[onehandle]

9. Wheeeee! Oil profits made easy!

Being President is hard work!

[Vinca]

10. I wasn't aware oil actually "exploded." Gas explodes, but I don't think oil does.

Strange.

[D23MIURG23]

18. It can, but it needs to be mixed with enough oxygen

to facilitate a really fast combustion. The easier an oil or a subset of its flammable components evaporate, the more potentially explosive it is. Natural gas, oil and paraffin wax differ chemically only in the weight of thier molecules, which translates into boiling point. Hence gas being rather explosive while paraffin wax isn't so much.

[Vinca]

19. Thanks. My only frame of reference is the operation of our oil furnace.

The oil has to be sprayed in a mist to ignite.

[MnFats]

20. if memory serves....there were reports of fumes..

building up at the point of failure....but who knows...
i'm just sayin'.

how the hell could those idiots leave a single, unguarded line to rupture and....oh, wait a minute. OK, I get it.

[knitter4democracy]

22. That's what they said on NPR this morning.

There was a fumes leak, and something sparked it. A couple of workers died. :(

[Historic NY]

11. Ding ding ding.........here comes $4.00 - 5.00 per gal. gas.

They now have a big excuse since most of our oil come from Canada. Merry Christmas.

[entanglement]

13. Oil futures up $4.0 on NYMEX n/t

[entanglement]

14. Two of the four pipelines back up and running again, per the Guardian

[Ghost Dog]

17. Hmm. Those would be 1 and 2, it seems. Latest Reuters comments:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071129/bs_nm/enbridge_fire_dc;_ylt=AuvAGiFyp8au.6h6SZr3eg6573QA

HOUSTON/LONDON (Reuters)...The cause of the explosion on Wednesday that killed two employees was not immediately known.

U.S. crude oil prices on Thursday vaulted more than $4 a barrel to just over $95 in early trade.

It later eased to just over $93 a barrel after news the main fire was out and two of four connected lines had restarted, but analysts were still worried about the impact on supplies ahead of peak winter demand.

"The timing is pretty bad. We are coming to the strongest demand period for crude with the approach of the northern winter," said Mark Pervan of ANZ.

...

There was no word on when line 4, the biggest of the connected pipes, which ships nearly 700,000 barrels per day (bpd), would restart.

Line 3, with capacity of nearly 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) had been shut earlier to inspect a leak and was also still out of action.

"Two of the four pipelines have restarted," Larry Springer, a spokesman for Canadian operator Enbridge said on Thursday. "The fire in line three in the last hour has been extinguished, but there could be other fires around it."

He did not specify how much throughput had been restored.

STRATEGIC RESERVES

Analysts said there was a possibility Washington could release oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to make up for the shortfall and calm prices.

"An SPR release will be on the agenda if it turns out that line 4 is down for an extended period," said Paul Horsnell of Barclays Capital.

The explosion also increased the prospects for a supply increase from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which meets on December 5, analysts said.

/...

[Randomthought]

28. update from energy analyst at my company

Line C was shut down due to a welding accident. Lines A & B are flowing at normal capacity.
Line C flowed at 450,000 b/d out of a total of 1.16 million b/d at this facility. Line D has spare capacity and can probably make up for most of the Line C capacity.

[mduffy31]

16. The workers are from here in Superior

One of the headquarters for Enbridge is located here in Superior WI and it feeds our refinery here.

[knitter4democracy]

21. I'm glad I got gas yesterday.

I'll see what the price is today, but I'd bet that we'll feel it here in Michigan.

[gtar100]

23. Gee, I guess they'll have to raise gas prices again

How is it that they use these problems as an excuse to raise prices and yet continue to raise profit levels? One would think that a "necessary" price increase was to maintain current income levels and protect from loss.

I might be jumping the gun here. But just call me cynical when it comes to the blood-sucking people in the oil business.

[JBoy]

29. BOHICA

[MilesColtrane]

24. If I were a bonafide, knee jerk, tin foil hat wearing, conspiracy theorist...

...I would say that somebody has taken a lesson from the insurgents in Iraq and applied it to manipulate the price of North American oil.

Glad I'm not one of those guys.

[shadowknows69]

25. Yeah, I'm not one of those guys either

Oh wait, yes I am.

[AntiFascist]

38. Funny, no mention of al Qaeda involvement? n/t

[Eagle_Eye]

44. That is because al Qaeda is not involved

I would look more to domestic sources.

Sources that operate in the same circles of business as BlackWater, Aegis and Dyncorp.

[AntiFascist]

46. Identifying al Qaeda operatives in North America is problematic n/t

[Eagle_Eye]

47. The administration could milk this for endless assaults on our rights

Import some hapless person from the Middle East, supply fabricated evidence of terrorist intent, feed the story to the Main Stream Media and ...

There you have it! Just fill in the blanks for any government intrusion you want.

Illegal wire taps? They could have prevented the pipeline explosion.
Warrant-less searches? They could have prevented the pipeline explosion.
Internet activity monitoring? It could have prevented the pipeline explosion.
Checking a person's preferred customer card purchase record at the local grocery store? It could have prevented the pipeline explosion.

Dick Cheney must be right proud of himself

[0007]

32. This is becoming quite trendy and beneficial to some, or am I just being paranoid?

[Thor_MN]

39. I just bought gas at $2.65 in Minneapolis, with 21 cents off.

$2.86 without the discount, same as yesterday, but the station was very busy. I think everyone knows what is going to happen. Minnesota has had it fairly easy so far, most of our gas comes from Canadian crude. Someone had the good thought to build a refinery that can use high sulfur crude. They get an additional revenue stream from the extracted sulfur products and can use the Canadian crude.