Keystone pipeline reopens after 1.4 million-litre spill in North Dakota

The Keystone pipeline resumed moving crude oil Sunday after 1.4 million litres (9,120 barrels) of oil were spilled in North Dakota in late October.

Pipelineoperator TC Energywill operate it at a reduced pressure, gradually increasing the volume of crude oil moving through the system, the Calgary-based company stated in an emailed release Sunday afternoon. The company said the repair and restart plan was approved by theU.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).

The spill was one of the largest on-shore crude oil spills in the region in thelast decade and Keystone's largest spill.

The pipeline, which deliversroughly93.8 million litres per day from Hardisty, Alta., to the U.S. Gulf Coast, hadbeen shut down since the spill near Edinburg, N.D.,was detected on Oct. 29. The spillimpacted a nearby wetland.

TC Energy said it's still investigating what caused the incident and analyzing the segment of removed pipe."No significant impacts to the environment" have been found so far, the company's website states.

Around 200 personnel have been working around the clock to clean up the site, and have recovered more than 1.08 million litres ofoil.

In 2017, a Keystoneleak in rural South Dakota spilled around 1.04 millionlitres, PHMSA data shows. Earlier this year, Keystone was partially shut after leaking 6,800 litres of crudein Missouri.

TC Energy has been workingto expand the pipeline system to double its capacitybut has faced regulatory hurdles. Completion of the Keystone XL project is currently slated for 2021.

The differential between West Texas Intermediate and Western Canadian Select sat at around $22 US as of Thursday.