Update: A press release from Plains All American Pipeline, L.P., issued Wednesday morning said the fire on a roof seal of the company's crude oil tank in Wichita Falls was extinguished safely around midnight.
"The terminal and connecting pipelines have resumed operation," the release stated.
"We would like to thank first responders and service providers that worked diligently to safely extinguish the fire. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused to residents in the vicinity of the station.
A fire broke out on Tuesday morning at a Plains All American Pipeline crude storage tank east of Wichita Falls, Texas, the company said, Reuters reported.
The fire was limited to a single storage tank at the Wichita Falls Station, the company said, and none of its workers were missing. Plains did not say if there were injuries, but did say that first responders were on site.
Plains did not specify whether the fire had affected any other operations.
Wichita Falls is a crude injection point in north Texas along Plain’s Basin Pipeline, which runs from the Permian Basin that to the oil storage hub at Cushing, Oklahoma.
The Basin pipeline was shut briefly, according to market intelligence firm Genscape, though the cause was unclear.
Flows on the pipeline resumed to a rate of nearly 410,000 barrels per day (bpd) after power consumption increased at about 1:00 p.m. ET, Genscape said in a notice.
Pipeline flow averaged about 365,000 bpd this week thus far and the Basin pipeline has a capacity of 450,000 bpd, Genscape said.
News of the pipeline closure contributed to weakness in West Texas Intermediate at Midland crude differentials during the day, traders and brokers said.
WTI Midland traded as much as $18 a barrel below U.S. crude futures early in the session, the biggest discount since late 2012. Prices recovered to last trade at a $16.75 a barrel discount, dealers said. On Monday, WTI at Midland traded near $15 a barrel under Cushing.
“Plains really hasn’t said much to the shippers so unless it’s going to be shut for a while, I don’t think there’ll be much market impact,” said one trader who buys oil off the pipeline.
Plains did not respond to a request for comment on the Basin pipeline closure.
The Wichita Falls Fire Department did not comment on the status of the fire and the Wichita County Sheriff’s office could not be reached for comment.
Reporting by Liz Hampton in Houston and Devika Krishna Kumar in New York; Editing by Phil Berlowitz and Leslie Adler
