LOS ANGELES—The shutdown of a pipeline that spilled 100,000
gallons of crude oil on the Santa Barbara coast forced Exxon Mobil
Corp. to halt drilling at three offshore platforms, the company
said Tuesday.
The oil company temporarily ceased operations last week after
Santa Barbara County rejected its emergency application to truck
oil to refineries, spokesman Richard Keil said.
A Santa Barbara County official said the company's problem
didn't constitute an emergency and it could go through the normal
procedure to get a permit to truck oil.
Exxon Mobil had significantly cut production from the three rigs
after the Plains All American Pipeline LP pipeline spilled crude on
the coast on May 19 and was shut down.
Federal regulators investigating the cause of the spill have
said the 2-foot-wide pipe was corroded where it ruptured.
Exxon Mobil had cut daily production on the Hondo, Harmony and
Heritage rigs from 30,000 barrels to 10,000 barrels and was storing
it at the company's plant in Las Flores Canyon, 15 miles west of
Santa Barbara.
The plant separates water and natural gas from crude, and
another company processes the natural gas. The plant was capable of
storing up to 540,000 barrels of crude, according to Santa Barbara
County.
The company said it had expected to reach capacity at the site
in early July when it applied for the emergency permit.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.
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