Oil Spill After Keystone Pipeline Rupture: Where Gas Prices Could Rise [Video]

The Keystone oil pipeline was shut down Tuesday morning following a rupture in North Dakota, with the resulting spill contained to an agricultural field near Fort Ransom. The cause of the rupture and the amount of crude oil released remain unknown, officials said.

The shutdown of the Keystone pipeline could soon drive-up gasoline prices across the Midwest, according to Ramanan Krishnamoorti, vice president for energy and innovation at the University of Houston.

According to Bill Suess, spill investigation program manager with the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality, a worker at the site heard a “mechanical bang” and quickly shut down the pipeline within about two minutes. Oil was later observed surfacing approximately 300 yards south of a nearby pump station, prompting an emergency response.

South Bow, a Calgary, Alberta, Canada-based liquid pipeline business that manages the pipeline, said in a statement, “The affected segment has been isolated, and operations …