Bismarck Tribune/Minneapolis StarTribune Articles on Overview of Pipeline Takeaway Capacity in North Dakota Bakken -- Enbridge's Sandpiper -- ONEOK's First NG Products Pipeline Out of the Bakken

Updates

February 7, 2014: the Sandpiper will "deviate" around Devils Lake in North Dakota, because...

Mark Curwin of Enbridge Energy said, "Well there's a large water body there and it makes sense frankly as your route pipelines to try and stay away from population centers as well as significant natural resources." 

November 26, 2013: Marathon to become biggest shipper on Sandpiper.

March 22, 2013: US regulatory agency (FERC) denied ENB permit for Sandpiper. Sounds like competitors and users were able to convince the FERC not acceptable; ENB said later it would not slow down completion of Sandpiper; apparently plans to renew permit request to meet objections of users, competitors (rails).


December 6, 2012: update on Sandpiper, Enbridge's North Dakota feeder system project. 

.... light crude production in North Dakota’s Bakken shale play has climbed 250 percent to 700,000 barrels per day, and could grow to as much as 1.2 million barrels per day in five years.

Enbridge’s future North Dakota feeder system project, known as the Sandpiper Project, will cost $2.5 billion and is expected to be in service in early 2016. The company said it expects the light crude takeaway capacity at the Bakken play to grow from 225,000 barrels per day to 580,000 barrels per day.

The 24-inch diameter pipeline will expand 600 miles from North Dakota to a mainline system terminal in Wisconsin.

November 4, 2012: The Dickinson Press has an update on the Sandpiper pipeline, proposed pipeline from Tioga, ND, to Superior, WI, but I don't see anything new in the article.

The route is yet to planned but will probably parallel Enbridge's main line in the area.

Enbridge is in the early planning stages for the Sandpiper Pipeline, which could transport about 225,000 barrels per day, said Katie Haarsager, community relations adviser for Enbridge.

Enbridge’s current capacity in North Dakota is 275,000 barrels per day.

By the first quarter of 2013, it’s expected to expand to 425,000 barrels per day with the completion of the Bakken Expansion Program.

The Sandpiper Pipeline would be Enbridge’s largest project in North Dakota, but its size is not uncommon when compared to other Enbridge projects nationwide, Steede said.

Original Post

Link to Bismarck Tribune.

Link to Minneapolis StarTribune, which is a better story and has a much better photograph. 

Some data points:

• one six-inch pipeline can eliminate 70 trucks/day
• $3 billion in private money allocated to laying pipeline
• 75% of oil is now trucked from well-heads in North Dakota
• eight pipeline companies in the Bakken

The story mentions Enbridge's Sandpiper which I noted a few weeks ago in a posting.

One large project, called Sandpiper, described by Mike Moeller, director of Enbridge's North Dakota operations, would ship Bakken oil into a terminal at Clearbrook, Minn., 90 miles east of Grand Forks, and then pipe it on to Superior, Wis., where it would connect to other pipelines heading east and south.

And this is new to me:

Yet another proposed pipeline costing up to $1.8 billion would transport Bakken crude 1,300 miles south to Cushing, Okla., another major terminal. The builder, OneOk, also plans a separate line that would be the first out of the Bakken field dedicated to carrying the valuable liquid components stripped out of natural gas.

Link here to InsideClimate News/Dickinson Press.