South Bow completes Keystone oil leak repairs, monitors weather for restart
South Bow Corp., Calgary, has completed all repairs, inspections, and testing at milepost 171 (MP-171) of the Keystone pipeline near Fort Ranson, ND, and expects to begin a carefully controlled restart of the pipeline today, the company said in an Apr. 14 update.
The move comes just days after the company’s response to an oil release on Apr. 8, 2025, that was detected and the system shut down within minutes, the company said in a previous update (OGJ Online, Apr. 9, 2025).
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has approved the repair and restart plans and South Bow is carefully monitoring inclement weather conditions before proceeding with the restart. The company is targeting restoration of service and energy deliveries by Tuesday, Apr. 15, 2025.
As part of the planned restart, South Bow will:
- Comply with all aspects of PHMSA's issued Corrective Action Order (CAO).
- Continue monitoring the system 24/7.
- Reduce operating pressures.
- Maintain commitment to ongoing safety-led response.
- Fully remediate the incident site.
- Share the investigation learnings as they become available.
South Bow said it is working with Ransom County on road management and is committed to repairing any road damage caused by its activities after the repair and restoration work is complete.
The company has had on site around-the-clock crews with vacuum trucks and other equipment. As of 11:00 am CT on Apr. 10, 700 bbl of oil had been recovered. Continuous air quality monitoring has steadily shown no indication of adverse health or public concerns, the company reiterated in an Apr. 12 update.
