By EDWARD WELSCH

Enbridge shut down two US oil pipelines after a small oil spill was detected in Michigan, but expects to return them to service later Thursday, a spokeswoman for the Calgary pipeline company said.

About 3 bbl of oil were found spilled near the village of Sterling, Mich. on Tuesday from Line 5, a 500,000 bpd oil pipeline that runs from Wisconsin to Ontario.

The line is operated by Energy Partners LLP, a US unit of Enbridge.

Enbridge was also forced to shut down Line 1, which runs from Alberta to Wisconsin, because there was too little storage room available at the hub in Superior, Wis., the spokeswoman said.

The spill is in the same state and from the same pipeline system that Enbridge spilled about 20,000 bbl of oil into the Kalamazoo River in July 2010, marking one of the largest pipeline spills in US history.

Enbridge executives were hauled before Congress and agreed to do new maintenance on the pipeline system as a result of that spill.

The latest spill was detected in soil near the village of Sterling in eastern Michigan on Tuesday during routine pipeline maintenance, the spokeswoman said.

Line 5 is expected to return to service later Thursday, with Line 1 to follow shortly afterward, she said.


Dow Jones Newswires