Enbridge Rail has entered an agreement to partner in a unit-train facility and pipelines near Philadelphia. The partnership will be called the Eddystone Rail Company. Planned facilities will be used to bring Bakken crude to Pennsylvania refineries. The project is expected to handle 80,000 b/d by the third quarter 2013 and can be expanded to 160,000 b/d if needed. Current plans call for building track to accommodate 120 rail cars. The facility will include a 200,000 bbl storage tank and barge loading capability.

Enbridge will own 75% of the venture and Canopy Prospecting will own the remaining 25% interest. The companies are expected to spend $68 million constructing the facility. Enbridge will oversee the construction and day to day operation of the facility.

The latest announcement simply further expands Enbridge's footprint in the Bakken Shale.

"In early 2013, Enbridge's Bakken Expansion Program will add 200,000 bpd of increased export pipeline capacity from the Bakken - 80,000 bpd into Berthold and 120,000 bpd into Cromer, Manitoba - taking Enbridge's total capacity from North Dakota to 475,000 bpd.

"Rail is the fastest way to provide increased export capacity out of the Bakken, creating a near-term solution to transportation bottlenecks and the resulting crude oil pricing differentials," said Stephen J. Wuori, President, Liquids Pipelines, Enbridge Inc. "Eddystone is an important step in our longer-term strategy to accommodate the anticipated growth of light crude oil supply and to provide Bakken producers and PADD I refiners cost-effective capacity to premium markets on the eastern side of North America."