Pipeline Spill In Arkansas

Updates

April 1, 2013: XOM update; Oil & Gas Journal is reporting:

ExxonMobil Pipeline Co.’s 20-in. OD, 848-mile Pegasus crude oil pipeline ruptured Mar. 29 near Mayflower, Ark., about 25 miles northwest of Little Rock.

The pipeline has been shut in and crews are working to contain the spill. Cleanup crews deployed 2,000 ft of boom and are using 15 vacuum trucks to clean up the oil, recovering roughly 12,000 bbl of oil and water as of Mar. 31. Crews also deployed 3,600 ft of boom near Lake Conway as a precaution, but have so far reported no oil reaching the lake.

ExxonMobil said it observed “a few thousand barrels of oil” in the Mayflower area but was staging a response for more than 10,000 bbl to be conservative. The company was investigating the spill’s cause. Reports cited the US Environmental Protection Agency estimated as much as 2,000 bbl of oil had been released.

Original Post

Reuters is reporting the spill.

Data points:

• Pegasus pipeline; Exxon; runs from Pakota, Illinois to Nederland, Texas;
• up to 90,000 bopd
• carrying Canadian heavy oil
• pipeline ruptured in the Northwood subdivision in Mayflower, Arkansas 
• Exxon staged a response to handle up to 10,000 bbls; unknown how much has spilled
• need to excavate the site of the rupture for more information 
• 22 homes evacuated; Exxon has set up a claims contact point; 50 claims so far

Probably an old pipeline; perhaps a new pipeline would have prevented this. Just saying.