By Kristen Hays
HOUSTON, March 8 (Reuters) - Shell Pipeline, a subsidiary ofRoyal Dutch Shell Plc, said on Friday it has shut apart of its Houma-to-Houston (Ho-Ho) pipeline for a temporaryperiod after a small crude oil leak.
Shell's report to the U.S. National Response Center estimatedthat a single barrel of oil had leaked, as the crew saw a poolabout 10 feet in diameter in the soil.
"At approximately 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 7, ShellPipeline isolated a segment of the Houma-to-Houston (Ho-Ho)pipeline after air patrol noticed an indication of crude oilleakage near Iowa, Louisiana," company spokeswoman Kayla Mackesaid in an email.
Tim Beckstrom, spokesman for the Louisiana Department ofEnvironmental Quality, corroborated that Shell had isolated theleak and that an oil response crew was en route for cleanup.
"This is being handled as a non-emergency spill" and thecause is under investigation, he said.
There were no injuries reported due to the incident and thecompany has activated its emergency response plan, Macke added.
Shell is reversing the pipeline's flow to carry Texas crudeto Louisiana from Houston. A Texas portion of the 300,000barrels-per-day (bpd) line was shut last November inanticipation of the reversal, which is part of an ongoingrealignment of infrastructure to move booming inland U.S. oiloutput to markets.
The Ho-Ho line, which has carried Gulf of Mexico crude toTexas from Louisiana, will move light-sweet crude from Texasshale and tight oil plays to Louisiana.
Last week Shell launched a supplemental open season tosolicit bids from shippers for another 75,000 bpd of capacity.That season will end March 27.
Shell also is planning another pipeline, Westward Ho, toinitially carry up to 300,000 bpd of crude from St. James,Louisiana, to refiners just across the Texas state line. Ifapproved, that pipeline is slated to start up in 2015.
