U.S. appeals court allows Dakota Access oil pipeline to operate amid court fight

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Dakota Access oil pipeline can continue to operate amid an ongoing court battle, a U.S. Appeals Court said on Tuesday, setting aside for now a lower court’s order issued earlier this month to shut and empty the line.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia granted Dakota Access, which is controlled by Energy Transfer LP , an administrative stay while it considers a final ruling to delay enforcing the lower court order while the case continues. That means oil can keep flowing through the 570,000-barrel-per-day pipeline.

(Reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar and Laila Kearney in New York; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)