Crews Cleaning 1,000-Barrel Oil Spill In Oklahoma

Crews Cleaning 1,000-Barrel Oil Spill In Oklahoma
Magellan Midstream Partners says most of the crude oil spilled in a rural Oklahoma area was cleared after a pipeline rupture. Photo by Alexandr Dobysh/Shutterstock

BILLINGS, Okla., Nov. 9 (UPI) —Magellan, an energy company working in Oklahoma, said preliminary evidence suggested third-party excavation led to a leak from one of the state’s oil pipelines.

Magellan Midstream Partners said a rupture on a pipeline system through Oklahoma led to the release of about 1,000 barrels of crude oil late last week.

“Although the incident remains under investigation, the damage to the pipeline was related to third-party excavation activities,” spokesman Bruce Heine said in statement emailed Monday.

Magellan said the pipeline was closed “quickly” and most of the released material was contained to a rural area. No waters were impacted by the spill and no immediate health impacts were reported.

Heine said crews were on the scene near the village of Billings isolating the incident and cleaning the immediate area. As of Monday, he said most of the crude oil released from the pipeline system was recovered.

Oklahoma is the No. 5 oil producer in the nation. Energy consultant Wood Mackenzie said the shale basins in the state are on par with the Eagle Ford basin in Texas and the Bakken shale in North Dakota with production expected to pass 1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2020.

Heine said the damaged section of the pipeline running through the state was already repaired and back in service as of Monday morning local time.

“Cleanup activities will continue at the site,” he said.

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