Repairs done on portions of Keystone XL in Texas

A crewman directs a pipe for TransCanada's Keystone XL project as it's lowered into the ground in Wood County, Texas. (Cody Duty / Houston Chronicle)

A Canadian company that is building a pipeline to carry oil sands crude to the Gulf Coast says it is repairing parts of the line in Texas.

TransCanada spokesman Shawn Howard says in an email that inspections of the pipeline revealed “small imperfections.” He says nine sections totaling about 81 feet will be repaired. He says 75 percent of the pipeline in Texas is complete. Howard says it will be in operation by late 2013.

The 485-mile pipeline currently under construction will carry tar sands crude from a hub in Cushing, Okla., to refineries along the Texas Gulf Coast.

It is meant to eventually connect to a 1,179-mile Keystone XL pipeline which would bring crude from Canada. That larger project has not received a required permit from the Obama administration.

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