By Bruce Nichols and Joshua Schneyer
HOUSTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The mess caused by the Eugene Island pipeline leak last weekend - in the Gulf of Mexico and the U.S. cash crude market - appeared nearly cleaned up Friday.
It was unclear how long it would take to fix the line, in which divers found a crack 33 miles offshore after it was shut down last Saturday. The damage has not been described in detail, and no repair plan had been announced as of Friday.
But Shell Pipeline Co and the Coast Guard issued a joint news release declaring impending victory over the 1,500 barrels of oil spilled. A spokesman predicted they would pick up the last remnants this weekend before it reaches shore.
Traders and brokers in the U.S. cash crude market, who had bid prices up sharply after the leak was disclosed late Monday, sent them back down in thin trading Friday after Shell said it had restored most of the affected oil flow.
"Overflights this morning revealed that skimming had reduced the remaining oil to several six-foot-(1.8-meter)-wide streamers approximately a quarter-mile long," a news release said. "Skimming will continue until the streams are collected ... and should conclude this weekend."
In the crude market, Heavy Louisiana Sweet fell $1.15 a barrel to $2.50 a barrel over West Texas Intermediate. Light Louisiana Sweet slid 60 cents to a $4.30-premium. Traders still assessed Eugene Island crude bids at WTI plus $2.00 against plus $2.50 offered, rare strength, but no sales were reported.
At its peak, the spill was described by officials on scene as "a nine-mile sheen with several streamers of darker oil," and had it moved to within 12 miles of the coast Thursday. On Friday, what was left was 15 miles from shore.
Shell said Friday the pipeline was still shut down but that it had managed to reroute 80,000 barrels per day (bpd) of the 100,000 bpd that was flowing through the pipeline when the leak was discovered.
It remained unclear exactly how much delivery of oil was impeded after Shell said the line was shutdown to control the leak. Chevron Corp said its Tahiti platform, which sends oil through the line, never stopped flowing.
Shell did not elaborate. All a Chevron spokeswoman would say is there are alternative pipeline routes that can be used.
(Editing by Marguerita Choy)
