LP:US Light oil price hangs near $107 as pipeline fire in US state reported
US Light oil prices open the week’s trading session near $107 a barrel as Canadian energy company Enbridge reported a fire along an oil pipeline it operates in the US state of Illinois.
Latest WTI Oil Price
US Light crude oil futures for April 2012 delivery was trading at $106.66 a barrel, 08.01 GMT today in electronic trading on the NYMEX.
Enbridge Pipeline Fire
Enbridge has shut down a pipeline that carries oil from Canada to the US after two vehicles crashed through a fence outside Chicago and struck the pipeline, causing a fiery explosion.
Police in New Lenox say two men were killed and three others were injured in the Saturday crash.
Enbridge spokeswoman Lorraine Little said the pipeline was shut down immediately when sensors detected a drop in pressure. A second, undamaged line was also shut down as a precaution.
Little said the undamaged line has reopened, but Line 14 remains closed and she said it likely won’t be restarted until Thursday.
“Emergency crews and Enbridge crews were at the site as quickly as possible. At this time our thoughts are with the accident victims and their families,” Little said on Sunday.
The line is 60 centimetres wide and carries various grades of crude from Canada, as well as oil from North Dakota. It normally transports 317,000 barrels per day.
Canadian crude oil is already heavily discounted to the United States WTI benchmark. On Wednesday, Canadian Heavy crude was bid at $35 under WTI while sellers were looking for $30 under. WTS is trading at about a $25 premium to Canadian crude, according to recent data.
Midwestern US oil refineries have been running at record high levels to take advantage of the price advantage of landlocked WTI and sharply discounted Canadian grades.
