The Brent pipeline system has been shut down for the second time this year, following the discovery of a leak at one of its platforms. The platform, called Cormorant Alpha, was shut down in January in a similar incident.
The pipeline system transports about 100,000 barrels of Brent crude daily from North Sea fields to an export terminal in the Shetland Islands. The crude oil is one of four that make up the Dated Brent benchmark and could have an impact on the price of the benchmark if it is closed for any length of time.
So far this morning, the price of Dated Brent has risen about 0.2% to $110.54 a barrel. U.S. gasoline prices, which are sensitive to the price of Brent crude, have declined in the past week, averaging $3.705 this morning compared with $3.737 one week ago according to GasBuddy.com.
The Brent pipeline system is owned by a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi National Energy Co., which acquired it from BP PLC (NYSE: BP), Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (NYSE: RDS-A) in 2008.
Paul Ausick
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