CHICAGO – A federal official said Sunday that crews believe they’re closing in on the source of a leak that has forced the closure of a Chicago-area oil pipeline, which analysts say has caused a sharp spike in gas prices across the region.
Sam Borries, on-scene coordinator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said workers are “actively excavating” to find the leak so the bad section of pipe can be replaced and the line reopened.
The closure of the pipeline owned by Enbridge Energy Partners has disrupted the supply of crude oil to Midwestern refineries, and already translated into higher prices at the gas pump for consumers, said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service.
“It’s kind of like having a blockage of an artery,” Kloza said. “The patient is going to have a few symptoms, and one of the symptoms is going to be higher prices on a short-term basis.”
Pipeline owner Enbridge Energy Partners has until noon Tuesday to stop the flow of oil. Borries said Sunday that that he misspoke earlier in saying Enbridge was ordered to stop the leak by Monday.
He said it appears the company will make the deadline, and Enbridge spokeswoman Gina Jordan said the company is “working very hard to ensure that we meet all of the EPA’s deadlines.”