Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Enbridge Inc.'s fire at a pipeline that brings crude oil from Canada into the U.S. looks more like an accident than a safety problem, the U.S. Transportation Department said.

Staff for Enbridge was working to repair a leak on one of the pipelines when the fire occurred, Damon Hill, spokesman for the department's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, said today in a telephone interview. It ``looks like more of a commercial industrial accident than a pipeline safety incident,'' he said.

The agency develops and enforces safety rules for the nation's 2.3-million-mile pipeline system, according to its Web site.

Enbridge, Canada's largest pipeline company, extinguished a fire near the Clearbrook terminal in Minnesota this morning. News of problems on the pipeline system, which handles 15 percent of Canada's oil supplies into the U.S., sent oil prices up as much as 5 percent to $95.17 a barrel.

Crude oil prices rose $2.21, or 2.4 percent, to $92.83 a barrel at 11:02 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The department started an investigation ``to look into what exactly went on'' at the pipeline, Hill said.

The federal government is ``working closely with the Minnesota Office of Pipeline Safety,'' which already has staff on site. A Transportation Department inspector is ``en route,'' he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tina Seeley in Washington at tseeley@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 29, 2007 12:16 EST