Three industry-linked consultants — including the veteran pipeline operator BP PLC chose to monitor its compliance with last year’s multimillion-dollar Alaska leak settlement — are set to join the panel of 12 experts assembled for a high-stakes government inquiry into the safety of Canadian oil sands crude pipelines.
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) took public comments through Monday on the makeup of its panel, formed in the wake of a bipartisan pipeline safety law that gave federal regulators 18 months to report to Congress on whether heavy Canadian crude — which would run through the controversial Keystone XL project — poses unique corrosion risks beyond those of conventional fuel lines. The NAS group’s final report could resolve bitter battles between industry and greens over the shipment of so-called diluted bitumen that acquired new momentum after 2010′s spill of the crude in Marshall, Mich.
