Spectra’s Platte pipeline resumes service after flood scare

Spectra's Platte pipeline, which runs from Guernsey, Wyoming to Wood River, Illinois, has resumed normal operations after shutting last week as a precaution due to flooding on the Mississippi River, according to a shipper notice.

Spectra Energy Corp shut down the 20 in. Platte Pipeline that carries crude oil from Casper, Wyoming to Wood River, Illinois as a precaution due to flooding on the Mississippi river.

The 932 mile long pipeline carries up to 164 000 bpd of crude oil from Casper to Guernsey, and 145 000 bpd from Guernsey to Wood River. The oil is sourced from the Bakken, the Denver-Julesburg Basin and the Powder River Basin. Its destination is refineries in the midwest.

Spectra acquired the Express-Platte pipeline in December of 2012 for US$1.25 billion in cash plus the assumption of US$240 million in debt.

The Express-Platte System is one of just three major pipelines moving crude oil from Western Canada to the US.

The system also serves the Bakken and Niobrara shale oil plays.

Industry analysts say that the floodwaters will probably continue down the Mississippi River and will impact the 10 refineries in the Baton Rouge-New Orleans area.

Edited from various sources by Elizabeth Corner

Sources: Reuters, Wyoming Business report

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/refining/05012016/spectras-platte-pipeline-resumes-service-after-flood-scare/