Magellan Midstream Partners pipeline ruptures in Texas, forcing evacuations

By Liz Hampton

HOUSTON (Reuters) – A crude oil pipeline operated by Magellan Midstream Partners ruptured near Bastrop, Texas, on Thursday morning, spilling an estimated 1,200 barrels of oil and prompting an evacuation, the company said.

No injuries were reported, Magellan said in a statement.

Magellan’s Longhorn Pipeline, which transports crude oil from Crane, Texas to Houston, ruptured about 4 miles (6 km)southwest of Bastrop. The company shut the pipeline and isolated the affected segment, it said.

People within a two-mile (3-km) radius of the spill were advised to remain indoors, the sheriff’s department and local emergency officials said. Several families near the site of the pipeline break were temporarily evacuated, and part of a nearby road was closed, the company said.

The pipeline was ruptured when a contractor doing maintenance work hit a fitting, Magellan said. The line was in service at the time.

Emergency responders, company representatives, environmental agencies and clean-up crews were at the site, the company said.

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) said in an email that it had dispatched an inspector to the site.

The Longhorn Pipeline has the capacity to transport to transport 275,000 barrels of day of oil from West Texas to the Houston area.

Crude oil prices in West Texas slid following news of the event. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) at Midland, Texas, fell to about a $1.45 a barrel discount, off around 15 cents a barrel from Wednesday, traders said.

(Reporting by Liz Hampton; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Richard Chang)

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