Enbridge restores service to Flanagan crude pipeline

Enbridge has restored service on its 585,000 b/d Flanagan South pipeline after a winter-storm related power failure.

The linem which runs from a terminal near Pontiac, Illinois, to Cushing, Oklahoma, returned to service yesterday at 6pm ET and is back to normal operations, the company said.

Flanagan South is also known as Line 59 and is part of Enbridge's broader crude mainline system.

Severe cold sweeping across large swaths of the central US is disrupting energy production, refining and midstream operations.

Texas cut power supplies to millions of customers and disrupted at least 3.3mn b/d of refining capacity. Refiners faced natural gas curtailments and rolling electric blackouts as the state's struggling power grid focused on residential service amid sub-freezing temperatures.

Magellan Midstream Partners, which operates pipelines and terminals in Texas, said the rolling electricity blackouts have had a "temporary operational impact on certain Magellan assets." But the company would not give further details. Magellan operates the 275,000 b/d BridgeTex and the 440,000 b/d Longhorn pipelines that move crude from the Permian basin to Houston.

One of the largest US midstream companies, Kinder Morgan, said it "continues to actively monitor the winter storm and assess impacts to our pipelines and facilities" and has activated response plans as needed.

By Eunice Bridges