Morning News, September 23, 2010, From the Bakken (ND, USA)

Another pipeline approved. From the Bismarck Tribune.com, it is being reported that the Bridger Pipeline has been approved.

A new oil pipeline through three western North Dakota counties will help deliver crude to at least three regional markets and will reduce truck traffic on the region's roads, state regulators say.

North Dakota's Public Service Commission endorsed a route for the 12-inch pipeline, which will stretch for 77 miles through Billings, Dunn and McKenzie counties. Bridger Pipeline LLC hopes to begin construction soon and finish by next summer on the $29 million project.

The company said the pipeline will be capable of carrying at least 60,000 barrels of oil daily. It should reduce traffic on area roads by about 300 truckloads each day, the company said.

The pipeline will reach from a point north of North Dakota Highway 23, about 15 miles west of the Four Bears Bridge on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, to a connection with another line about 18 miles northwest of Dickinson, commission filings say.

Spokesmen hope this pipeline will be able to connect to TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline in the future.

This reminds me of the Arrow Pipeline story, and also here. The Arrow Pipeline is also on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.This should give folks an idea of 1) how much oil is coming out of the reservation; and, 2) how strategic planning by the tribal chiefs seems to be playing out. Good for them.

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Infrastructure story in the Minot Daily News.com. Update on highway improvements.

Otherwise, pretty quiet in the oil patch.

NOTE: most of these stories will be available on the web for a short period of time. Many of them will not be accessible some weeks from now. The links will be broken. Googling the topic will generally find the an alternate source for the story.