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Seaway Pipeline crude oil leak reported in Cushing, Okla.

The crude oil artery reversed in 2012 and doubled in capacity to facilitate shale oil boom.

By Daniel J. Graeber

CUSHING, Okla., Oct. 24 (UPI) -- Crude oil was reported leaking from the Seaway Pipeline near the main U.S. oil storage hub in Cushing, Okla., on Monday.

News9, a CBS-affiliated television station in Cushing, Okla., reported a release from a pipeline controlled by the Seaway Pipeline Co.

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The leak was reported Monday morning, though no spill volume was immediately available.

Police said the spill is not a threat to residents and no evacuations were ordered, though News9 reported that people were told to avoid the spill area and traffic has been rerouted indefinitely near the scene.

Cushing is a small town of about 8,000 residents in a rural area between Tulsa and Oklahoma City.

The leak was repaired and the crude oil artery returned to service Monday evening.

The pipeline is run by a joint venture between Enbridge and Enterprise Products Partners, which operates the 400,000 barrel per day artery.

The Seaway pipeline runs from the Cushing storage hub to the southern U.S. coast. The direction of the pipeline was reversed in 2012 in order to reduce transportation costs and accelerate development of crude oil reserves in North America. The capacity was expanded from 150,000 bpd before the reversal.

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The release from the Seaway pipeline is the second associated with the Cushing storage hub in less than a month. Plains All American Pipeline reported problems with infrastructure from Colorado City to Cushing earlier this month.

Deliveries to and from Cushing could impact data on crude oil storage later in the week and skew market perceptions. An increase in storage is indicative of supply-side pressures, while a draw would support a market characterized by strong demand.

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