Clearbrook, Minnesota: Bakken's "Cushing"?

Link here for a great human interest story on crude oil hub in Clearbrook, Minnesota.

Minnesota, a land of no oil wells, is quietly emerging as a major gateway for the oil bounty flowing from North Dakota and Canada.

Pipelines that can carry 14 percent of the petroleum used in United States converge on this little-known town in northwest Minnesota, population 521. The oil distribution terminal here, built in 1950 and repeatedly expanded over six decades, is now a key distribution point that feeds refineries in the Twin Cities, Superior Wis., Chicago and beyond.

"It is an increasingly busy hub, even more so in the last few years," said Denise Hamsher, director of major project planning for Enbridge Energy, which owns the terminal and most of the pipelines in and out.

Even more oil is on the way to Clearbrook, setting off a sometimes contentious scramble to expand pipelines and pumping stations in the region.

Most of the new oil will feed the 1,900-mile Lakehead System owned by Enbridge, which is investing $9 billion to upgrade capacity from the Midwest to the Gulf Coast. Two Twin Cities refineries with direct pipelines from Clearbrook also stand to gain from the new crude.

According to the story, two more pipelines to Clearbook are being proposed.