US Pipeline Regulator Probing 60-Barrel Leak on Colonial's Line 3

Top U.S. pipeline operator Colonial Pipeline on Wednesday shut its Line 3 for unscheduled maintenance in response to a "product release" at its Witt delivery station near Danville, Virginia. PHMSA is monitoring the estimated 60-barrel leak on the company's Line 3 pipeline in Virginia, a source told Reuters on Thursday.

(Reuters) — The U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is monitoring an estimated 60-barrel leak on Colonial Pipeline's Line 3 in Virginia, a source told Reuters on Thursday.

Top U.S. pipeline operator Colonial on Wednesday shut its Line 3 for unscheduled maintenance in response to a "product release" at its Witt delivery station near Danville, Virginia.

The company expects repairs will occur by Friday, the source said, adding that the PHMSA's interstate agent, the VA Corporation Commission, was investigating the leak.

The outage has affected the Line 3 schedule, including downstream, and the line is expected to restart on Jan. 7, Colonial had said, noting that impacts appeared to be contained to its property and normal operations continued on the rest of the system.

Line 3, with a capacity of 885,000 barrels per day (bbl/d), runs from Greensboro, North Carolina, to Colonial's hub in Linden, New Jersey, carrying gasoline and distillates.

Last month, Canada's TC Energy Corp. faced a 21-day outage on its 622,000-bbl/d Keystone pipeline after it spilled 14,000 barrels of oil in rural Kansas, the biggest U.S. spill in nine years, reducing flows of Canadian crude to Gulf refineries.

Oil prices rose around 1% on Thursday, with the Line 3 shutdown providing some support early in the session.