By Bruce Nichols
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Enbridge Inc is on track to restart a major oil pipeline carrying up to a third of Canada's U.S.-bound crude shipments on Friday, the company reiterated on Thursday after it won regulatory clearance about one week after it was shut due to a leak.
Oil prices fell by more than 1 percent, dropping for a third day as traders grew more confident that the disruption to the 670,000 barrel pre day (bpd) pipeline -- which they initially feared might be shut for weeks -- would soon end.
"The repairs have been completed and we are confident we can operate the pipeline safely and in conformity with PHMSA rules. We are making preparations for start-up on Friday," spokeswoman Terri Larson said by email.
Larson said late Wednesday that Enbridge had agreed with the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration on the Friday restart, although PHMSA has not confirmed its approval or given any date.
A PHMSA spokeswoman said by email on Thursday that she expected the agency would have a response before noon Thursday to inquiries about 6A.
The 34-inch (0.9-meter) pipeline is the backbone of Canadian oil imports into the United States. It was shut September 9 after a leak that spilled some 6,100 barrels of crude was discovered in Romeoville, Illinois, near Chicago. The cause of the leak is still under investigation.
The line, which supplies refineries with a combined capacity of more than 1 million barrels per day, connects with a spur that reaches the New York Mercantile Exchange delivery terminal at Cushing, Oklahoma.
The shutdown -- the second for Enbridge since a separate spur called Line 6B spilled oil in Michigan on July 26 -- raised expectations of tight crude oil supplies and concerns that regulators could delay further operations. PHMSA has yet to allow Enbridge to resume the 190,000 bpd 6B line.
(Reporting by Bruce Nichols; Editing by John Picinich)
