Property damage and business interruption

29.11, explosion, fatalities

US: two workers died after an explosion and fire along a crude oil pipeline near the northern Minnesota town of Clearbrook. The two workers were fixing an underground pipeline when fumes apparently escaped and ignited the blaze. The fire, which burnt for three days, prompted the authorities to evacuate residents in close proximity. The fire shut down the main pipeline delivering Canadian crude oil to refineries in the US Midwest. Pipelines from Canada carry about 1.9 million barrels of oil per day. The closure halted about 20% of US oil imports and US crude prices rose $1.65 to $92.27 a barrel. The incident reversed some of the recent price falls caused by the smaller than expected drop in US oil stockpiles.