By Dan Molinski
Exxon Mobil Corp. plans to ask Santa Barbara County, Calif.,
this week for permission to temporarily transport its crude oil in
trucks after a pipeline it was using burst two weeks ago, spilling
more than 100,000 gallons of oil off the coast.
"The County will consider the information provided by ExxonMobil
later this week and make an informed decision, based upon our
zoning codes, policies and environmental review if warranted," said
Kevin Drude, who heads the county's energy division, in an emailed
statement.
Mr. Drude said the pipeline, owned by Plains All American
Pipeline LP, pumped about 30,000 barrels a day of crude oil from
Exxon's Las Flores Canyon facility to a pumping station in Gaviota,
where the crude then continued on to refineries inland. The
pipeline also was used to move some 4,000 barrels a day of oil
produced by private Denver-based firm Venoco, the official
said.
Representatives from Exxon weren't immediately available to
comment.
The amount of crude pumped in the pipeline is tiny compared with
the nearly 2 million barrels a day of oil refined each day in
California, analysts said.
Brad Leone, a spokesman for Plains All American Pipeline, said
the pipeline has been out of service since the spill and that no
timeline for restarting the pipeline has been set. Federal
regulators are investigating the cause of the release of oil.
About 1,000 field workers continue cleanup efforts along the
scenic Santa Barbara County coast, where some birds and marine
mammals have died, and others were rescued.
Write to Dan Molinski at Dan.Molinski@wsj.com
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