Bakken Pipeline System: Dakota Access Pipeline + Energy Transfer Crude Oil Pipeline -- August 5, 2016

Bits and pieces of this have been reported all week.

For newbies, the Dakota Access Pipeline that is getting all the attention in Iowa is now part of what "they" are calling the Bakken Pipeline System. This "half" of the system will carry Bakken crude oil from North Dakota to Illinois.

A second leg will carry that oil from Illinois to Texas.

Players involved also suggest that this puts the the Enbridge Sandpiper into question. At current production levels, the Sandpiper is certainly not needed. Enbridge seems to be suggesting that the Sandpiper has now been moved to the back burner while the company re-evaluates.

Bottom line: a lot of folks in Minnesota just got the rug pulled out from underneath them. I hope they weren't counting on that "mailbox money" that would have come their way for decades.

Data points:

• the Dakota Access Pipeline, North Dakota to Illinois, through Iowa, bypassing Minnesota: $3.7 billion
• the Energy Transfer Crude Oil Pipeline from Illinois to Texas, $1 billion