Dizzying Pace Of North America Taxes Enbridge; Replacing Line No 3 With Bigger Lline; Regulators Approve Reversing Enbridge Pipeline

I track:

• Enbridge here
• pipelines here

It is absolutely incredibly how Enbridge has grown, how it has changed in the past two to three years. If Williston ever becomes a pricing hub for Bakken, Enbridge will get the credit.

The Bismarck Tribune is reporting:

Canada's National Energy Board approved Thursday a plan by Enbridge to reverse the flow of a pipeline that would allow for Western Canadian oil to be transported to Eastern Canada.

The board's decision allows Enbridge to move 300,000 barrels of crude oil per day from Sarnia, Ontario, to Montreal.

Line 9 originally shuttled oil from Sarnia to Montreal, but was reversed in the late '90s in response to market conditions to pump imported crude westward. Enbridge now wants to flow oil back eastward to service refineries in Ontario and Quebec.

The capacity of the line will also increase to 300,000 barrels a day from 240,000 barrels.

Duluth News Tribuine is reporting:

Enbridge Energy said Tuesday it plans to build yet another new oil pipeline into the Northland, on top of two expansion projects already in the works.

Enbridge said it would end service of its aged Line No. 3 from Alberta to Superior and replace it with a larger-capacity line to bring northwestern Canadian oil into the U.S.

The proposal is in addition to the proposed expansion of the Alberta Clipper line from Canada and the all-new Sandpiper line from North Dakota to Superior as Enbridge moves to build more pipeline capacity at a dizzying pace to keep up with the huge volume of oil coming out of western North America.

The company hopes to have the $7 billion, 1,031-mile new Line 3 Replacement project moving oil by late 2017, said Enbridge spokeswoman Lorraine Little.

The current Line 3 is 46 years old and has been undergoing almost constant maintenance. Its original capacity was 760,000 barrels per day but has been reduced to 410,000 barrels per day because of restrictions on the pressure in the pipe, Little said.

The new line would allow the full 760,000-barrel capacity, Little said, for an increase of 350,000 barrels per day of Canadian crude entering the U.S. — or about 14.7 million additional gallons per day.