US Regulatory Body Denies Enbridge Permit for the Sandpiper Project; A Huge Win For Rail
Link here to The Globe and Mail:
The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has blocked plans by
Enbridge Inc. for a massive new pipeline to carry oil out of North
Dakota’s fast-growing Bakken field.
In a decision released Friday,
FERC denied an application by Enbridge to set tolls, or costs to move
oil, through its $2.5-billion (U.S.) Sandpiper project. By blocking
those tolls, it has at best delayed the project, as Enbridge will now
have to present an alternative way to pay for the large new pipeline,
which would carry oil 603 kilometres from North Dakota to Minnesota.
And so it goes.
A number of companies involved in moving oil out of the Bakken had
loudly protested Enbridge’s proposed tolls. EnWest Marketing LLC told
FERC that “the amount of [Sandpiper] capacity was not necessary in view
of rail and pipeline alternatives.” Another protestor, WPX Energy
Marketing LLC, accused Enbridge of staging “an attempt to double the
price of transportation while receiving a risk-free guaranteed rate of
return.”
Others said the Enbridge proposal would force shippers to
shoulder the full extent of increased costs if Sandpiper is not filled
to capacity. They also argued that Enbridge sought to pay off the
pipeline in 15 years instead of the standard 30 and, they said, few
supported the project.
