Enbridge's Sandpiper Pipeline Delayed

Pipeline Construction
Pipeline Construction

Permitting problems in Minnesota are delaying Calgary-based Enbridge Energy Partners LP from building a 612-mile pipeline from North Dakota's Bakken Shale, according to the Wall Street Journal. The company disclosed the delay of the $2.6-billion Sandpiper pipeline in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this week.

The Sandpiper pipeline is designed to move 225,000 b/d from North Dakota to Clearbrook, MN, and then transport up to 375,000 b/d from the Minnesota location to another oil hub in Superior, Wisconsin. At the end of last year, oil giant Marathon reached an agreement whereby Marathon will fund 37.5% of the Sandpiper pipeline and gain a 27% interest in Enbridge’s North Dakota System.

Read more: Enbridge's Sandpiper Pipeline Gains Anchor Shipper in Marathon Petroleum - Open Season

The delay comes after the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission requested an expanded study on the environmental impacts of six possible routes of pipeline. Opponents to the pipeline suggest the planned route crosses many environmentally-sensitive areas in northern Minnesota, including rivers, lakes and wetlands.

At the Enbridge Annual Investment Community Conference, SVP-Major Projects Byron Neiles, said, " even though we've secured all of the required approvals in North Dakota and close to 100% of the right-of-way, and close to 90% of the -- and over 90% of the lands required in Minnesota, the regulator there three weeks ago reversed a decision it took earlier this spring denying opponents' motions to extend the process as well as to bifurcate or decouple the route and need processes of the review. Moreover, it required that these processes be conducted one after the other rather than in parallel."

The Sandpiper Pipeline is expected to be in service some time in 2017. Estimates at the end of last year were for the first quarter of 2016.

Enbridge's current five-year forecast includes a record $44-billion in capital expenditures.

Read more at wsj.com

Enbridge's Sandpiper Pipeline Gains Anchor Shipper in Marathon Petroleum - Open Season

Sandpiper Pipeline Map - Enbridge
Sandpiper Pipeline Map - Enbridge

Enbridge Partners announced it has reached an agreement with Marathon Petroleum to become an anchor shipper on the Sandpiper Pipeline.

The Sandpiper Pipeline is a 225,000 b/d oil pipeline that will run 375 miles from Beaver Lodge, North Dakota, to Clearbrook, Minnesota. The project also includes a 30-inch, 233-mile pipeline extension from Clearbrook, Minnesota, to Superior, Wisconsin.

Marathon will fund 37.5% of the pipeline and gain a 27% interest in Enbridge's North Dakota System. The project has an estimated cost of $2.6 billion and is expected in service in the first quarter of 2016.

The Sandpiper Project provides much needed pipeline capacity to enable rapidly growing Bakken crude oil production.......” said Stephen J. Wuori, president. “We are delighted to welcome Marathon Petroleum as both a committed shipper and a partner. Their shipping commitment demonstrates the economic attractiveness of establishing a low-cost reliable pipeline solution for Bakken producers to access the premium North American markets for light crude oil.

An open season for the pipeline starts at 12 pm MST on November 26, 2013 and ends at 5 pm on January 24, 2014.

Read the full press release at enbridgepartners.com

Enbridge Completes Bakken Pipeline Expansion & Berthold Rail Facility

Enbridge Bakken System Map
Enbridge Bakken System Map

Enbridge has completed the most recent Bakken Pipeline System expansion and opened its Berthold Rail Facility.

The Bakken Pipeline Expansion included two projects that added 145,000 b/d of pipeline capacity out of the Bakken region. The Berthold Rail Facility added 80,000 b/d of capacity and Enbridge now has the capacity to move 415,000 b/d out of North Dakota. That's a little more than half of the 820,000 b/d of oil produced in North Dakota.

The completed Bakken Pipeline Expansion and Berthold Rail Facility are now providing options that are sorely needed. Combine these finished projects with the upcoming capacity within the Sandpiper Pipeline, and Enbridge will have the ability to move 660,000 barrels per day from the Bakken by early 2015.

Enbridge partnered with the Berthold Farmers Elevator to construct the new rail facility and the facility has been in service since the second quarter of this year.

The company is also holding open houses in North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin this week related to the path of the proposed Sandpiper Pipeline Project. The pipeline will add 225,000 b/d of capacity out of the basin and has an expected in service of late 2014 or early 2015.