Blast crimps crude supply {Pipeline update from yesterday}

Houston Chronicle ^ | Nov. 29, 2007, 10:54PM | TOM FOWLER

[thackney]

Enbridge Energy Partners' pipeline burns Wednesday night in Clearbrook, Minn. The line carried crude oil imported from Canada.

ERIC HYLDEN: GRAND FORKS HERALD

[thackney]

Yesterday’s threads:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1932092/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1932148/posts

[thackney]

This Week In Petroleum, Crude Oil

[Cagey]

Company officials believe light crude oil leaked from around new couplings that had been installed as part of the repair,

It just seems so basic that the repair should have been inspected before the pipeline was operational again. Any insight?

[sure_fine]

have they released names of the tow killed?

[thackney]

The previous repairs should have included X-raying the welds to check for voids and weak spots.

[thackney]

Dave Mussati Jr., and Steve Arnovich based in the Enbridge’s Superior, Wisconsin pipeline line maintenance crew.

Statement from Patrick Daniel, President & CEO, Enbridge Inc.
http://cnrp.ccnmatthews.com/client/enbridge/releaseen.jsp?actionFor=798048&releaseSeq=1

[sure_fine]

Dave Mussati Jr., and Steve Arnovich based in the Enbridge’s Superior, Wisconsin pipeline line maintenance crew.

Statement from Patrick Daniel, President & CEO, Enbridge Inc.
http://cnrp.ccnmatthews.com/client/enbridge/releaseen.jsp?actionFor=798048&releaseSeq=1

thank you

[eastforker]

Sounds like it was more like a cold patch clamp. The vehicles idling less than 35 feet away is a classic example of explosions and fires in the oil industry. The explosion and fire at BP in Texas City was caused by a vehicle that would not shut off after the key was turned off because of “dieseling”. It was running on the fuel from the leak.

[thackney]

That would make more sense with the description of what happened.

[eastforker]

Also sounds like it was a prety strong sour stream of crude with a lot of H2S.

[aroundabout]

The gloom and doom media where joyous early yesterday when this was first reported. The story claimed a $4.00 spike in crude and gleefully predicted it would take many days to repair the damage because the pipe around the junction where this explosion occurred “ was a nightmare."

Halfway through the day oil was back down, the pipeline was flowing again (3 of 4) and the media turned elsewhere to gin up stories in order to ruin peoples days.

Meanwhile, today oil has dropped below $90.00 for the 1st time in a long while.

[thackney]

That stream should be a blend of a lot of different sources. There are a couple very sour ones coming out of Alberta like Cold Lake and Lloydminister. But Pembina, Rainbow and Osa are quite sweet. I’m not sure what the mixed stream is. I don’t know the quanities per source.

See link for measurements of individual streams:
http://www.meglobaloil.com/MARPOL.pdf

[PAR35]

I noticed gasoline prices were down a nickel overnight at a local station.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I watched this development from the crude contract perspective on Wednesday's after market. Thursday morning, someone, believed to be Goldman Sachs, was still buying at $95/bbl.
30 minutes later, three of the four lines were going and Goldman got clobbered.
Someone cue up Gene Pitney...

[444Flyer]

<

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Don’t know if you saw this but there is a plan to pipe diluent oil from Chicago to Calgary (”Southern Lights,” I think is the name of the pipe) to help dilute the heavy crude coming back to the US. Previously, some nat gas was blended into the heavies to get them to flow.

[thackney]

Found some more information:

The pinhole leak was fixed with a repair sleeve earlier this month.

On Wednesday, workers shut down the pipeline to remove the 11-foot section that included the pinhole and sleeve. They replaced it with a new section of pipeline, but oil apparently leaked at a section where that joined the old line, said Leon Zupan, Enbridge’s vice president of operations.

The company’s metallurgists want to analyze the section to better understand why it leaked, said Enbridge spokesman Larry Springer. Electronic tools were put inside the pipeline in 2006 looking for dents and metal loss.

“There were no problems found in that area where the leak occurred,” he said.

Pipeline Fire Traced to Pinhole Leak
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/30/AR2007113000807.html

[eastforker]

We are not getting all the info. If they shut the line down wednesday morning there is no way in hell they could get it cleared for hot work, weld a new section in and put it back in service in that time frame. I belive this was a 60” pipe or so. Sure would like to know how they joined that 11 foot section of pipe together. Now, I can see where they might have prewelded two flanges on the old pipe while still in service, then shut it down and coldcut out the damaged pipe and replace it with a new spool piece, but, if thats the case the leak would have been detected earlier unless the two piece flange wasn’t put together properly. One things for sure, they had pinholes in the pipe, that usualy doesn’t happen unless the pipe is getting real thin.

[thackney]

If they shut the line down wednesday morning there is no way in hell they could get it cleared for hot work, weld a new section in and put it back in service in that time frame.

I don't agree. It doesn't say it was first discovered Wednesday morning.

I belive this was a 60” pipe or so.

34" pipeline

I can see where they might have prewelded two flanges on the old pipe while still in service

I doubt flanges were used for a pipeline repair. More likely penetration welds with the repair section already beveled cut and two beveling machines already in place on the existing before the line was taken down. At 11 feet apart separate crews would work each end and 34" is big enough to "brother-in-law" weld.