A Canadian government agency is investigating whether some fittings and steel pipe on TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone oil pipeline are below standards.
Canada’s National Energy Board began the work after a similar U.S.agency, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, began a similar investigation, according to a report by Bloomberg News.
“They noticed that fittings were not meeting their standards down in the States,” spokesperson Rebecca Taylor told Bloomberg. The Canadian investigation will recommend whether improvements to materials standards are needed, Taylor said. There is no timeline for the study, the report said.
TransCanada is seeking approval from the U.S Department of State to build the northern cross-border leg of its Keystone XL pipeline.
“We are responding to questions from the NEB about pipeline fittings and steel pipe used for Keystone,” Shawn Howard, a TransCanada spokesman, said in an e-mail to Bloomberg News. “It is important to note that there is no issue with the safety or integrity of this pipeline.”
The National Energy Board mentioned the study in a report on its audit of TransCanada’s integrity management programs. The pipe and valve investigation preceded the audit, which began in November 2012, Taylor told Bloomberg.
